Chasing the Sun
by NoctIsFishing
Summary: The Digidestined never thought they would lose their Digimon. As Sora tries to help everyone heal, Tai hides away wanting to find out why they lost, and what he can do to ease the pain he caused. Taiora w/ hints of Mimato, Sora/Tai POV, Romance/Friendship with Adventuring toward the end.
1. Chapter 1: INTO THE NIGHT

**..CHASING THE SUN..  
** _[crossposted from Ao3]_

 _I. Into the Night - loc. The City (Chapters 1-10)_  
 _II. Through the Clouds - loc. The City/The Beach (Chapters 11-17)  
III. Beneath a Different Sky - loc. The Beach/The Digital World (Chapters 18-21)  
IV. Dawn of a New Day - loc. The Beach (Chapters 22-23)_

* * *

 **..INTO THE NIGHT..  
(01-10)**  
 _He hides away in darkness, she tries to keep the light aflame._

Sora copes with the loss alongside her friends, but she struggles to get through to Tai. It worries her, just enough for everyone else to do the same for her.

* * *

 **Into the Night - Part I**

Years passed since the Digidestined saved the Digital World as well as their own. The years flew by for them, including Sora, who just finished her first year at university along with Tai and Matt. Everyone remained in close contact with each other, living their lives normally and happily, though with the hope that the portal to the Digital World would open once again.

Little did they know, the next time it did open that they would be seeing their beloved partners for the last time.

It happened in a matter of days. Their Digimon partners sprouted in appearance to their human counterparts, warning them of the impending attack on their island. It was up to Tai and the others to come up with a plan to keep the evil Digimon at bay while keeping the people and cities safe. Their plan was foiled when the Digimon raged into the real world sooner than expected.

Everyone was still ready to fight, ready to face the consequences that would befall on them.

It was hard to watch for Sora and the others, who were all behind a concrete wall to protect from the blasts and destruction before them. She watched Garudamon get ambushed by three other Digimon. MagnaAngemon rushed to help but was pummeled into a building by another. The evil were too strong, the Digimon friends were outnumbered, and were forced into fighting defensively. Yet, the Digidestined refused to give up, yelling encouragement for their Digimon partners with their fighting spirit.

Their energy would last only for so long…. Sora watched in horror as her Digimon let out a painful shriek, blood spilling from her side before de-volving. And one by one, every one of their Digimon de-volving into their weakest forms before falling to their fate.

"GARUDAMON!" Sora screamed. Tears flew back from her eyes as Tai grabbed her by the waist to stop her from running out. "No!"

"We can't go out there…" Tai said, his voice cracking from behind her, his whole body shaking as he held her while she tried to break free. They had just watched Wargreymon's eyes widen in shock as another mon struck him with a sharp-edged sword through his chest, then fall to the ground, de-volving before going limp.

Matt dropped to his knees in disbelief, tears already streaming down his face. Kari passed out from the stress, and TK held her in his arms, sobbing. Mimi hid her face in Izzy's shirt as she bawled, while Izzy and Joe both stared speechless at the devastation before them.

"You have to let me go.. let me…" Sora gave up struggling out of Tai's grasp, then fell onto the ground, her loud cries echoing through the area.

They were quickly dampened by the line of military jeeps zooming past and the fighter jets flying overhead, towards the monster massacre. Guns blazing and rockets blasting, dust flew around, blinding them all from viewing what happened next. Soldiers appeared before them all the while, shouting commands that went deaf on their ears, and they picked up the Digidestined and helped them flee the area.

The day was June 15, 20XX, the day the Digimon friends were no more.

* * *

Not a word was spoken from any of the group as they were taken by caravan to military base outside the city. Kari was taken to the medical facility next door, and the rest of them sat together in the lobby of the front office, too distraught to speak.

"A group of kids, no one older than 20," Sora heard one officer say to another. "Civilians all over the place, running away, but these kids ran straight into the line of fire."

"Takaishi Takeru," came a woman's voice. T.K. looked up with his red, tear-stained eyes, looking as though he was ready to cry again. The woman was in a fitted suit and wore glasses with a clean bun atop her head. Her voice was calm yet stern. "It must have been frightening for you out there. Can you tell me what happened?"

Sitting next to him, Sora, with her eyes stinging from her own tears, watched him hesitate. He opened his mouth but then quickly closed it, as though struggling with how to answer.

"We were trying to run away," Sora said, and the woman turned her head to her. "I was trying to stay calm and lead us to safety, but all the screams and the explosions were overwhelming, so we took a wrong turn…"

The woman stared at her, curiously, and Sora stared straight back. The Digidestined had an unspoken promise that they would never reveal their bonds to anyone outside of the group, aside from their parents, who they already were forced to tell in the past. They had already seen the news talking about the so-called evil monsters, regardless which side they were fighting for. Sora took T.K.'s hand and squeezed it tightly. She was not about to let that that promise break now.

"You led everyone into danger," said the woman.

"Don't blame her."

Everyone turned to Tai, who sat at Sora's other side. He looked down at the floor moodily in front of him. "It wasn't her fault that we ended up there."

"He's right," added Matt. "The city was under attack and we all happened to be outside. It would be hard to believe any of us would be thinking straight."

"Well, you're lucky we got you out when we could." The woman stepped away from T.K., then turned and walked away. A collective sigh of relief.

Not long after, T.K. put his head down and broke into tears again. Heart sinking even lower from the day, Sora moved closer to him, her arm now around him as she rubbed his shoulder in comfort.

"It was mine…" Tai muttered, but only Sora heard it. She looked over at him, still with his brooding expression. In no way did she believe that, but there was nothing left in her to argue. At a loss of what to say, she took her free hand and put it over his. Then he turned his palm to meet hers, interlacing their fingers when he held it back.

She looked around the room, seeing the rest of her friends with their heads down, quiet but shedding tears of their own. Tears streamed down her face freely, the stinging less apparent from crying so hard.

Tai wasn't crying at all.

* * *

 _ **June 18, 20XX**_

 _Ring, pause. Ring, pause. Ring…_

 _"Hey, there! You've reached the mailbox for Yagami Taichi. I'm busy right now, so if you could leave a message, I'll be sure to call you right back! See ya!"_

That was all Sora heard from dialing Tai's number the last few days. She had been at home in her bed, underneath her blanket, laying in a fetal position for most of the time. Her mother, Mrs. T., would enter the room every so often to check on her, sometimes to leave food at her bedside table, sometimes to just kiss the top of her head, knowing her daughter just wanted to be left alone.

Sora still dialed her friends even without leaving her bed. She found out that Izzy and his family were forced to leave his damaged home, and they relocated to the giant stadium in the city, where a shelter had been set up. Joe was still choked up when she talked to him, but he mentioned that the hospital he worked at was being shut down, and they were scrambling on how to deal with all of their patients.

All Mimi could do was cry while she vented to Sora. T.K. was too emotional to talk, but they exchanged messages to each other to cope.

Matt said, right when he answered her call, "I don't want to talk right now."

Sora expected his cold nature, but she knew he didn't mean to be that way. "I guess we'll talk later then," she replied.

He must have taken notice of the sadness in her voice. "If you want to talk, though, I'm here," he said.

"No, I'm okay."

"Very well. Just thought I'd remind you, anyway. I know you've been worrying about all of us. Just remember to worry about yourself too, okay?"

"Thanks, Matt."

It wasn't until the next day that Sora finally got out of bed. Joe sent a mass text to everyone about the emergency health clinics set up at every school gymnasium in the district, and that they all were in dire need of extra hands.

 _Biyomon wouldn't want me to mourn forever_ , she thought to herself. If she were here now, she'd be running alongside me to help.

When Sora showed up to the clinic at her old high school, she signed herself up as a volunteer at the table in the hallway and was handed a nurse uniform. Once she was dressed and she opened the doors to the gym, all she saw was chaos.

The majority of the floor was lined with cot beds and medical equipment, and people young and old already in them, some unconscious, most screaming or crying. People in white doctor coats and uniforms matching hers rushed past her left and right. She dodged out of the way as a team of medical staff zoomed through rolling a gurney for a woman wailing in pain. Sora headed to the nearest nurse station, clueless on what she should be doing, and overheard two nurses quip about the surge of patients they had to help treat as a result of the attacks.

"Excuse me, what-" Sora began, but a doctor quickly pulled the two nurses saying something about patients needed replacement IVs.

Just then, she felt a hand grab her arm, and it was a woman who looked to be in as much as a panic as everyone she'd seen so far.

"Dr. Kido! Have you seen Dr. Kido? There're more patients coming in from the hospital they just closed. I need him to see them!"

 _I should have known he was working here,_ Sora thought. "I'll find him," she said.

" _Hurry,_ " said the woman with urgency.

Sure enough, weaving her way through the clinic, passing by other nurses and doctors running in the opposite direction, through more painful screams and cries, she found Joe hidden at another nurse's station, crouched on the ground and hugging his knees. His eyes were wide with fear, and he was trembling.

"Joe…" Sora bent down crouching next to him.

"I don't know what to do—I thought I was ready for this, Sora," he said, "I couldn't let all that medical schooling go to waste, not at a time like this. But the moment I got here, seeing people that are dying… I can't stop seeing Gomamon…" Joe closed his eyes and covered them with his hands. "I couldn't save him. Why couldn't we save them?!"

Sora rubbed his back in comfort, feeling her eyes watering, then leaking. But she wiped her eyes, knowing she didn't want to dwell on what happened right now.

"It's been hard for all of us, Joe," she said, breathing deeply. "You shouldn't be pushing yourself if you aren't ready. But as hard as it is, these people need help right now. You and I are here because we couldn't just sit and watch things get worse. Our Digimon wouldn't have wanted that, anyway."

"You're right…" Joe was now rubbing his eyes. "We can still help. I can still help. I'll do what I can."

"One of the assistants is looking for you. Do your best, Joe. Just don't push yourself, okay?"

When they both stood up, Joe hugged her tightly and expressed his gratitude. Before he ran off to see his patients, he flagged down another nurse to give her a rundown of tasks to do while she was there, and she was determined to help as much as she could.

The hours flew by as she helped keep the nurse's stations stocked with bandages and gauze among other things, and made sure the medicine stock was kept full. She helped different doctors, including Joe, take medical notes and administer medicine, even if it meant holding a patient down for injections while they screamed in protest.

Those few short hours were enough to bring Sora back to the streets-turned battlefield, hearing the cries of terror surrounding her as the attacking Digimon chased anyone who was running away. It was a reminder that everyone else in her city suffered that day, too.

On her way out, she passed a grieving father at the front desk, with a nurse comforting him. "Let me go to my daughter!" he exclaimed, crying over the nurse's shoulder. "Let me go to her! Why did she have to…"

With a heavy feeling in her chest, Sora walked quickly out of the hallway to the front of the school, wanting to be as far away from the gym as she possibly could. She kept her head lowered as tears were already forming in her eyes again, and it was to the point where she had no more strength to hold them back.

She expected to be alone at the front gate of the school entrance, but she stopped in her tracks when she saw him standing up from leaning against the tree facing her. She started walking closer to the tall, messy brown-haired boy who was now walking towards her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice shaking from crying, knowing he could see the wetness of her cheeks.

Tai's hands were in the pockets of his shorts as he walked, his face expressionless. "I saw Joe's message, and I had no doubt you'd be here. I was waiting for you."

Before she knew it, his arms were wrapped around her shoulders and back as he held her tightly. "You always put everyone first," he continued, "but you forget to pay attention to how you feel until it's too late. I was worried about you."

Sora rested her forehead onto his chest, letting her tears flow more freely as she hugged him back.

"Where have you been?" she whispered through her quiet sobs. "I've been worried about you."

"I've been horrible," he said gently. "I wasn't around for you like I needed to be. I need to be better."

They stood there for a while, Sora crying onto Tai's shirt as he gently rubbed her back. She felt better the more she let her tears escape. When she finally stopped crying, she found herself leaning against him, feeling comfortable being cradled in his arms.

"I'm sorry, Sora," he said. "I just couldn't face you or anyone else. Not about what happened."

"But you're facing me right now, aren't you?" Sora lifted her head up to look at his face. He was looking back at her, no longer looking impassive but worried. His eyes were still dry but lines showed he had been losing sleep.

"I…you're important to me," he said with a moment's hesitation. Sora furrowed her brows when she took notice. "I'd rather come to you first before anyone else. You get it, don't you?"

Sora watched him thoughtfully as he gently wiped her tears away, then took her hand to hold as they started walking away from the school. Did he mean because they were dating? Did he mean because they had been close friends since childhood? What he said left her a little confused.

Still, she felt like a small weight was lifted off her shoulders, and even with his sudden appearance, she had him to thank.

"I'm glad you showed up, Tai. You're important to me, too." She gave him a small smile, then she watched his cheeks suddenly turn red.

"Well." Tai laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head with his other hand. "I'm happy to hear it."

"What is it?" she asked, still staring at him with confusion.

"Don't worry about it." He turned to her with a grin.

It was another thing he wasn't telling her, she thought. Another thing he was keeping locked tight in his head right now. It had only been a couple days since the attacks happened, but she sensed that Tai was the one who took it the hardest. As he put his arm around her shoulders, and she put his across the back of his waist, she walked alongside with him, knowing he'll tell her everything eventually.


	2. Chapter 2

**..CHASING THE SUN..**

 **.**

 **Into the Night - Part II**

Slowly, but surely, the Digidestined tried to return to living their normal lives. It was summer break for all of them, but while the city and some schools were in rebuilding, there was a debate on whether they should reopen when the time came.

In attempt to make the most of summer vacation, Sora joined Mimi in planning get-togethers with the gang. Their first one was during the afternoon of July 4th at Mimi and her parents' mansion, just outside of the city, in which they had BBQ at the poolside. A full-sized grill and stove was manned by one of the Tachikawa family servants, and they prepared to grill the finest meats and vegetables for Mimi and her friends.

Sora, Mimi, and Matt floated about together toward the end of the pool near the grill. Sora wore her two-piece, laying atop her float, while Mimi, also wearing a two-piece, held onto hers with her back facing the sun, and the rest of her body in the water. Matt was in his trunks and lay on his back on a lounger float, covering his eyes with a notepad on his face, pen between his mouth and nose.

"The news is always so terrible, isn't it?" Mimi asked. "They have to bring it up every single time."

"I always turn it off," said Sora, disgruntled.

"Half of the city was destroyed, so of course they're going to talk about it," said Matt. "It's the biggest catastrophe most people have seen in their lives."

"Yeah, but it's just hard hearing them talk about them like they were the bad guys," said Mimi, somberly.

"We know they weren't."

A few weeks back, Sora tried watching the footage on a news segment which caught Angewomon holding onto a falling skyscraper to let people run away and escape, but all she heard from the newscaster was that "there may have been some good, but motives were clearly deadly." Couldn't anyone else see the good their Digimon friends were doing?

"I can't turn the TV on at all anymore," Sora said. It infuriated her.

Two big splashes happened nearby, and the three of them turned to see T.K and Kari jumped into the pool. It was a pleasant surprise seeing them have fun; they both came a long way from crying nonstop. Now, Sora watched them start a race to see who swam the fastest.

"Watch yourself! Don't push yourself too hard!" Matt shouted at T.K.

Sora looked at Matt who now sat up watching T.K., his notepad now fallen from his face down to his lap. She couldn't help but giggle at him. "You haven't changed at all, _nii-san_ ," she teased.

Mimi propped herself up on her float, her light brown hair draping over her shoulders. She giggled too. "You even brought your songwriting material to the pool."

"Let me write my songs in peace," he said, making a face.

"Well, at least you're _in_ the pool," said Mimi, turning toward the side of the pool where Izzy and Joe sat on lawn chairs, both in their trunks, but Joe was reading a textbook, and Izzy was on his laptop. "You guys, join us!" Mimi called. "The water's great!"

"In a minute!" Joe yelled back, staring intensely at his book and taking notes in front of him.

Mimi groaned loudly. " _They_ haven't changed. It would be hard to get Joe in the pool, but I bet Izzy would join us if Tai were here."

If Tai were here. His reason for not being there was because he wasn't in the mood. Sora looked over to T.K. and Kari, who were now laughing and splashing each other. Tai would have joined the fun and laughter, maybe even finding ways to splash her-

Water splashed onto Sora's forearm. Matt had slapped the water in her direction, making her snap out of her thoughts.

"I can't believe he didn't want to come!" Mimi said, kicking her feet to and fro underwater. "I'm so offended!"

"It's not like it's a surprise," said Matt, holding up his notebook. "He's lucky to have Kari and Sora look after him, but how many times have the rest of us tried talking to him?

Sora frowned, taking note of all those times her friends tried to call him and show up to his house, but to no avail. She even tried setting up times to show up with her friends to meet him, but he showed no interest.

"It's still really frustrating!" Mimi whined. "Doesn't he want to talk to us?"

"He's still afraid," Sora said, sighing. "Plus, it's not like he wants to talk about it with me, either."

Since their meeting at the front of the high school, Sora had been slowly trying to bring normalcy back into her relationship with Tai the past few weeks. Sometimes, she would drag him out of bed in the morning to jog or ask him to make her breakfast. Sometimes, she invited him over to watch an anime, or to lay over him while she read a book.

Sometimes, she didn't care for talking at all and let him know, simply by a kiss he would be crazy to refuse. It led him to falling into bed with her, filling the desire to lose herself with him as he moved inside her.

"If you guys don't even talk, then what do you do?" Matt asked, curiously. Sora blushed furiously while Mimi slapped her hand into the water angrily, splashing it onto Matt's upper body, making Matt quickly cover his notebook. "Hey—be careful!"

Sora blocked out Matt and Mimi's bickering while Tai remained on her mind. As hard as she tried being with him, there were moments when he would space out in front of her, buried in his own thoughts, without giving any reason. It was obvious to her, as it was obvious to any of her friends.

He never wanted to talk about that day.

"I'm sure he'll come around," Sora said, though with uncertainty.

"Cheer up, Sora," said Matt, making another light splash toward her again. "He will. You made sure of it for the rest of us."

"He's right!" said Mimi, smiling, quickly forgiving of Matt. "I don't know what I'd do without you!"

"Well, I really didn't do much…Whoa-Mim-!" Mimi jumped to grab onto Sora into a hug, though pushing her into the water as a result. Mimi laughed heartily as Sora wiped away the water from her hair and eyes, then laughed along as they held each other. She then saw Matt's lips curl into a smile as he looked down at his notepad, but not before a huge splash of water showered over him.

T.K. had curled himself up in the air into a cannonball and landed in front of the three of them. He floated up next to a grimacing Matt, laughing hysterically at Matt's drenched hair and paper. Without another word, Matt jumped into the pool and swam to catch T.K., who swam away from him quickly.

"Good luck trying to catch him, Matt!" Kari yelled, sitting at the side of the pool with her legs in the water. "He beat me at our race!"

Soon after, Mimi and Sora snuck behind Joe and Izzy to steal their book and laptop, running into the house to set them down as the boys ran after them. Then the girls pulled them along, convincing them to dive into the pool to join the rest of the party.

Sora was glad they convinced them, because she they all needed a little sunshine in their days of darkness.

* * *

 _ **July 15, 20XX**_

Sora continued volunteering at the clinic with Joe, and Mimi and Kari joined too. She adapted to the hectic, pressing environment, and especially with three of her friends there, she felt a little more at ease working her shifts.

She visited Izzy at the stadium and offered him and his family over at her house for meals sometimes. It was on this evening, after one of their dinners when Izzy sat on Sora's rug in her room between her bed and her desk, taking his laptop out from the backpack he always carried. Sora sat on her bed behind him, hugging her pillow against her chest.

"How is Tai doing, by the way?" Izzy asked her as he booted his laptop.

"He's…fine," Sora said, fully aware of how long that pause was between her words. Izzy didn't appear to take any notice of it.

"It's just, he's been… difficult to approach."

Sora took note of his pause, too. She knew he was apprehensive when it came to talking about his own feelings, much less how to react to everyone else's feelings. With Tai being someone he admired, it seemed that he was really scared to approach him.

The laptop made its startup sound, and Sora peered over his shoulder, seeing nothing but green letters and numbers on black screen. Although she didn't understand any of it, she recognized strings of characters that formed a pattern of code across the screen.

"That's from before, isn't it?" she asked him. "Before it happened."

Today was the one-month anniversary. One month later, and she still found it hard to say what 'it' was.

Staring at the screen, Izzy knew what she meant and nodded. "Right," he said. "The programming code of the Digital World."

Sora remembered the last year of high school, when Izzy first showed this to everyone. After the original adventure to the Digital World, Izzy discovered traces of code left on his laptop that formed some sort of map, and Izzy spent years deciphering the pieces. It wasn't until the attacks a year after he showed them, when they realized that the map revealed with blinks and flashes the locations in their own city from where the Digimon appeared.

Why did they show up, and how? What happened to the Digital World? So many questions were left unanswered, and she had no doubt Izzy was searching for an answer now.

Sora saw that map Izzy clicked onto the screen. For years, it appeared blank with no activity, just as it appeared before them now. Izzy reached his hand over to a corner of the map and touched the screen. The spot where Tentomon appeared.

"We'll meet again," said Izzy quietly. "I'm sure of it." Then he pulled out a small, light blue colored device—his digivice—holding it in front of him, staring as though he waited for it to do something.

Sora felt her throat tighten but said nothing. Her own digivice was in the drawer of her bedside table. It was too hard for her to keep carrying it in her pocket or her purse, knowing it wasn't going to activate anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

**..CHASING THE SUN..**

 **.**

 **Into the Night - Part III**

Sora walked the Izumis down the staircase to the front entrance of her apartment building later that evening. After they expressed their gratitude to her and her mom for taking care of them, and after Sora said goodbye, she headed the opposite direction and called Tai.

He was getting better at answering his phone, if not calling her back later. This time, he answered right away.

"Are you alright?" he asked, already picking up on her mood.

"I—I just wanted to see you. I'm coming over."

Tai paused. "Okay."

When Sora arrived, Kari answered the door, hugging her tightly once she saw her. She followed Kari inside, exchanging greetings with Mrs. Kamiya when they passed the living room.

"He went out today, not saying a word," said Kari uneasy and in a hush. "He didn't talk at all during dinner, and he excused himself to his room after, and hasn't made a peep since."

"I'll talk to him," said Sora. She then approached his door and turned its knob, carefully pushing it open. She wanted to talk to Tai about the pool party and missing out with their friends, and about how Izzy's visit was hard for her, but her mind changed when she stepped into a dark room, illuminated only by the glow of the TV adjacent to the door. Tai sat cross-legged in front of it, staring emptily as he pushed buttons on the game controller above his lap.

"I'm here, Tai," she said, and she closed the door and turned the light on. There was no reaction from him. Frowning, she approached him, noticing he was playing a fighting game she watched him play numerous times before. The character he played, a muscular samurai whose ripped clothes revealed his big chest down the middle, was beating down a larger, red-eyed demon soldier, with black smoke emanating off of its whole body.

Sora watched the letters "K.O." flash on the screen soon after, the samurai flashing a grin with a peace sign, and Tai set his controller down, was no excitement from Tai resulting from this win.

"Hey…" Sora kneeled to Tai's side, holding his hand.

"Hey," was all he said, lowering his eyes to the floor instead of to her. She tilted her head to try to see his face better.

"Do you want to talk?"

"No."

"Then, should I leave?"

"…No."

Until now, Sora hoped Tai was getting better at coping, like everyone else was. Maybe if she kept at doing the normal relationship things with him, he would open up with his troubles; he would start seeing his friends again, and he would be happier. But… even as he went along with her and appeared to enjoy himself, she still saw him absent, there at her side but his mind was miles away.

Tonight seemed to be the worst for him.

Sora leaned close to him, reaching for his face with her hands, then gently lifting it toward her as she closed her eyes and pressed her lips against his. It was the only thing she could think of to take his mind off of all that he closeted from her. His lips stayed still as she pulled away the first few times, but she felt a chill when he kissed back, moving his torso towards her and bringing her closer by her waist.

When she pulled away again, she saw him slowly open his eyes along with hers. Their eyes were now locked onto each other, though his far-off gaze was still there.

"Where are you, Tai?" she asked softly and worriedly. "I'm trying to follow you."

"I can't say," he said, his eyes now trailing away from her.

"You shouldn't keep this to yourself forever. It will ruin you." Her arms were now resting on either of his shoulders, and she was studying his moping face again. "You haven't slept well. You are clearly bothered by something, and it's been eating you all this time. Tell me."

"I'm fine," he said, Sora knowing full well he was lying.

"Look, everyone is wondering about you. They haven't seen you. Kari and your mom don't know how to talk to you. And I… I can see you up close, right now. You're hurting…"

Sora put her hand to his chin and moved so she can see him face to face again, her pained expression now matching his. "Don't you want to talk about it, Tai?" she asked, hearing her own voice quiver.

"I'm… I'm sorry…" he said, looking away again.

She stared at him, feeling discouraged. Slowly, she unwrapped her arms from his neck and started to back away. There was nothing else she could do to help him.

"I should leave, after all." She raised herself on her knees and turned toward the door, but stopped when she felt Tai's hand grab her wrist.

"Don't," he said. Sora turned around, seeing that he was now looking at her, scared and uncertain. "Stay with me. Please, Sora."

The shakiness in his voice frightened her. That was all it took to stop her from leaving him.

"Okay," she said, wrapping her arms around his back now, holding him. "Okay, Tai, I will."

So, Sora stayed with him. She watched him continue playing his video game, resting her head on his shoulder as he played through fight after fight. After one of the harder fights, Tai let out a laugh, which surprised Sora. "I thought I was a goner for sure," he said, smiling meekly.

Soon after, they were both yawning, and they washed up and got ready for bed, Sora putting on clothes she kept there whenever she came over. They crawled into his bed together, laying on their sides facing each other. They held a long kiss goodnight, and then she watched him close his eyes first.

She watched his face relaxing the longer she watched him fall asleep. It was just a habit now whenever they were in the same bed. One month since it happened… perhaps it was why Tai was in this kind of mood, and why she wanted to watch him closer than ever. His smile was rare these days, and she imprinted it to memory every time, because she missed his joyful, carefree energy, and prayed to the gods one day she could bring him back.

* * *

 _ **July 16, 20XX**_

T.K. messaged Sora to stop by his house the next day. He gave her no particular reason why, but Sora knew T.K. wouldn't ask for her to come if he didn't have a reason.

Sora woke up finding Tai still asleep. He still looked just as peaceful as he did before she fell asleep the night before, and she felt it would be a crime to wake him. She crept out of bed, changing into a tank top and shorts, and quietly went into the living room.

As she put on her shoes, she heard nearby footsteps and a bedroom door opening. She looked to see Tai standing at his bedroom doorway, his hair askew, sleepily rubbing his eyes.

"I'll call you later," Sora said, stepping her feet onto the floor to settle into her flats.

"Have you eaten?" he asked, groggily.

"Not yet."

Tai was already dragging his feet to the kitchen, opening the top cupboard and searching through the shelves. He found a wrapped energy bar, which he then brought over to her, placing it in her hand.

"Make sure you eat," he said, before he held her. "You forget to, sometimes."

It eased her mind, seeing him act like his usual morning self. "Go back to bed, baka," she replied.

"I will," he said, kissing her forehead.

Sora ate the bar on the train ride to T.K.'s, checking her messages while doing so. There were no messages except one from Mimi—she sent one to the group reminding them about the picnic tomorrow, which reminded Sora to message Tai about it, knowing automatically what his answer will be.

" _Please come to the picnic tomorrow."_

When she showed up at T.K.'s door, he took her hand and quietly led her to his backyard, which had a garden on one side. There was a small plant a few feet away from the garden against the concrete wall, which looked like a hole was recently dug for it and then was placed there. It was that plant that T.K. stopped them in front of, and Sora felt his hand grip hers more tightly.

"I made this for Patamon yesterday," T.K. told her, solemnly.

Sora squeezed his hand back. "One month and one day," she quietly replied.

"I haven't told anyone else about this, not even Kari, not even Matt. It was bad enough when Mimi tried to bring it up in front of everyone."

Sora remembered this. It was a week from that day, and the group was divided in wanting to remember their Digimon partners. Mimi wanted to have a gathering, but Kari stomped away in a teary protest, while Izzy, who normally kept his emotions to himself, cried in disbelief that they didn't think the Digimon would come back.

"Everyone isn't as tense as they were before," said Sora. "Maybe we could try asking everyone again in the near future. I'll help."

"You'll even get Tai to come?" he asked, wide-eyed and hopeful with tears in his eyes.

Sora paused. It's what she had hoped. "Yes. Even Tai."

"I appreciate it, Sora," he said, wiping his eyes, then crouched down toward the plant, gently brushing his fingers against the tiny leaves. "I just want Patamon to always know I'm thinking of him."

Feeling her heart slowly break, Sora bent down with him and put her arm around his shoulder, holding him close to her like a mother to her child as he began to silently weep.

"He knows, dearest T.K.," she told him soothingly, weeping with him. "He knows."

* * *

 _ **July 17, 20XX**_

Sora met with Mimi at a local park on a hot, humid summer afternoon. It was a park that was mostly still standing, save for a portion at the opposite end from where they sat, covered in dirt, fallen trees, and surrounded by yellow tape.

That didn't stop them from organizing a picnic for the group. Everyone was bringing their own snacks and drinks to share. They found a spot hiding from the sun under shade from the tall trees.

"I can't believe Tai isn't showing up again," Mimi said, handing one of her homemade sweet breads to her while they waited for the others. "How is he doing?"

"I don't know anymore," said Sora, taking a bite of the bread. "Wow, Mimi, this is delicious."

Mimi smiled cheerfully. "I'm so glad! It's thanks to you I got back into baking again."

This was true—Sora thought back to a week after the attack when she visited Mimi at her mansion. Both of them were still downtrodden, but Sora thought freshly baked chocolate chip cookies made from scratch would lift both of their spirits up. They sat on the kitchen floor against the cupboards while they shared memories of Biyomon and Palmon, sometimes laughing through their tears. Somehow, a few bites of those cookies made them feel a lot better.

"If only they were here to share these with us, huh?" Sora said, a bittersweet thought that made her want to smile while feeling a lump in her throat at the same time. Mimi looked at her knowingly, but in the end, it made her laugh.

"They would probably eat them all before everyone else got here."

The two of them burst into giggles, knowing how true it would have been.

"You girls are awfully cheerful," came Joe's voice. Sora and Mimi looked up to see him standing in front of them, holding his basket of sandwiches at his side. "It's good to see that!"

"Good to see you, Joe," Sora said, smiling.

Matt was next to him, arms full of sodas and juice. Kari and T.K. approached as well, carrying bags of chips and other snacks. Sora and Mimi moved to make space on the blanket for them to set their food and drinks down.

"Is Izzy not coming either?" Matt asked as he and the rest took their seats and started passing food around.

"He told me he had something to do first, but he'll be here," Sora replied.

"That's a first," Joe said, looking wary. "He's usually never late."

"I'm sure he's got a good reason for it, knowing him," said T.K.

Sora bit into her sandwich silently. Izzy's delayed arrival was part of a plan she came up with after Tai told her he wasn't going the night before. She sent a message to Izzy to share her plan.

" _I know you miss Tai, and I'm sure he misses you too, but I know you're afraid to see him. Go visit him later today. He'll be really happy to see you. Don't tell anyone I put you up to this… I'll tell everyone you'll be late."_

Izzy never responded.

Sora continued eating and chatting with her friends, smiling and laughing along with them, but she anxiously waited for Izzy to show up.

"Hey, guys!" came a shout. Izzy approached from afar, waving at them. Everyone shouted greetings back. He met with them, setting his bags of food along with the rest. Sora's face fell. Perhaps he didn't visit Tai at all, and he was just surprisingly late, but then-

"You didn't have to bring two types of food, Izzy," said Mimi, surprised when she peeked through the bags.

"Well, my mom made the rice balls. The daifuku are from Tai."

Everyone else, including Sora, now looked at him with surprise.

"Hang on," said Kari. "You went to see Tai?"

"How did it go?" Sora asked, looking interestedly at him.

"Well, he didn't turn me away like I expected," said Izzy.

"Like anyone of us expected," Joe said with a look of disbelief. Matt nodded next to him in agreement.

Mimi's eyes were wide with curiosity. "Did you invite him, though?"

"Affirmative. But he rejected the invitation."

"Oh." Sora watched Mimi's face fall, and everyone else simultaneously slump their shoulders and sigh. She recognized the glum look on their faces; the look of worry she seems to give Tai every time she saw him.

Yet, she still saw a good sign in this.

"Don't lose heart, everyone," Sora said, still sitting straight up. "He's taking a long time in whatever he's dealing with. Even I'll admit, it's a hell of a long time…I mean, a really, _really_ long…"

She dawdled as she noticed both Matt and Joe staring at her, both with one eyebrow raised. She cleared her throat and continued on.

"Tai talking to Izzy just shows us that somehow, maybe…he's trying to find his way back."

She closed her eyes, seeing fragments of the other night flashing before her, from him taking hold of her hand with his frightened plea, to him smiling at her after he won his game. When she opened her eyes again, she had a look of determination.

"It might be a long way to go, but we can't give up on him now. We haven't given up on each other, have we? We've got to keep trying."

She spoke those words as though she was sitting alongside her friends, wanting to cling to those words herself.

No one said anything about it afterward, but they didn't need to respond in words for her to know they agreed. Kari was tearing up but smiling. Mimi rubbed her shoulder comfortingly, while T.K. leaned against her other shoulder. Izzy handed her a daifuku with a smile, Joe nodded at her, pushing his glasses upward, and Matt squeezed her shoulder. The mood lightened greatly after that, and Sora continued eating together with her friends with a newfound hope.


	4. Chapter 4

**..CHASING THE SUN..**

 **.**

* * *

 ****Mild Sexual Content Ahead****

* * *

 **Into the Night - Part IV**

 _ **July 22, 20XX**_

To think that the hope would only last for so long.

Sora stayed close to her phone the next few days, waiting for the scoop from her friends on how it went with Tai. T.K. was the first to ask her—he was afraid to text Tai himself, so he went to Sora's place to have her help him.

" _T.K. is here with me. He says hello and hopes you are okay,"_ she typed through her phone.

" _Tell him I said, 'Hey,'"_ Sora read to T.K. _"Give him my regards."_ T.K. beamed in response.

However, that seemed to be the only high point, because it went downhill from there. Mimi called her one evening, sounding agitated.

"I don't know how you dealt with him, Sora! He's completely ignoring me!" she cried over the phone.

Matt wasn't too responsive lately, and neither was Joe, but he did send her a quick message one afternoon asking, _"Is Tai doing okay? I sent him something days ago."_

Mimi must have noticed Sora's anxiety over this, so she dragged Sora to go shopping with her and Kari today. She begged them to have a girls' day, saying she was itching for more sundresses. It wasn't hard for Mimi to convince Sora when it came to shopping; that girl had a good eye for sales.

They went to the shopping center midtown, where there was one section closed off while it was being rebuilt, though a lot of their favorite shops were still open. They spent the longest time at the big clothing store, where Sora found new tops and skirts, Kari found hairpins and earrings, and Mimi couldn't find her dresses, but she found two pairs of heels.

The three of them walked out of the store together, stopping at the front to let people pass in front of them.

"I'm surprised the mall is still open while under construction," Sora heard a man say to his friend as they walked by. "Or that any business is still running, for that matter."

"I think it's a good thing, showing the city and its people are still alive and strong," his friend replied. "If only we stopped those monsters sooner, right?"

Sora felt a lump in her throat as she listened. She knew what kind of words would come next, and she felt anger rising in her chest as the man responded.

"Yeah! It was awesome watching them get pummeled by those soldiers on TV! It was like watching a movie!"

Mimi groaned, clenching her fists and was about to move forward when Kari stopped her.

"We can't, Mimi," Kari said in a panic, holding her back. "Let's not make a scene here."

"I would if I could!" Mimi said irritably. "Sora would too, right, Sora?"

"No doubt about that…"

Sora felt weak suddenly. Her eyesight was blurring, and she was feeling lightheaded. Perhaps that anger was too much to feel right now, or maybe…

"Sora…?" Mimi asked. Sora realized Kari and Mimi were on either side of her, holding her arms, looking worried.

"You haven't eaten, have you?" Kari asked. Sora closed her eyes, holding her hand to her head, struggling to focus.

"Come, we need a break," Mimi said, leading them both to the nearest café.

Sora's senses returned after refilling her energy with a meal and iced tea.

"I'm sorry for the trouble," Sora said, feeling embarrassed.

"You just need to worry about yourself more," Mimi said. "We know you love us, but you worry about us too much. Especially Tai."

"You're letting this happen one too many times, Sora," Kari added.

This was the second time this week. Sora nearly fainted during one of her shifts this past week with Joe, who flipped out on her for not eating before showing up. He ordered her to sit on a cot to rest, bringing her toast and juice.

Sora kept that quiet from the two in front of her, but it seemed Mimi detected she was hiding something, so she slid a slice a chocolate cake toward her. "Eat," she commanded.

After a trip to a bath house, a nail salon for a manicure and pedicure, and a full course meal at Mimi's mansion, Sora, Mimi, and Kari ended up in Mimi's room, tired from the day, and too full to move. Mimi lay sprawled on her four-poster bed, and Kari slumped into the armchair next to the bed. Sora sat against Mimi's bed on the floor, exhausted but extremely relaxed.

"So…much…food…" said Kari.

The three of them lay silently. Sora's eyes were drooping, and she felt ready to drift off to sleep then and there.

"You know what we should try to do?" Mimi asked, sitting up from her bed suddenly. "We should all go to my parents' beach house together! All of us, including the guys!"

Both Sora and Kari looked at each other for a moment, then laughed. For years since high school, Mimi made this suggestion every summer, and every summer, the plan fell through and the trip never happened.

"Oh, stop it, you two!" said Mimi. "I think it might work out this year. I mean, we've all been making time to hang out with each other already, and no one's mentioned about having any other plans.."

"It would be nice to get out of town," Kari thought aloud.

"No kidding," added Sora, turning herself around to face Mimi. She hadn't really thought about it until now—being away from the city, away from the streets she walked by that were still being cleaning up from debris of some fallen buildings, away from those daily reminders of what happened. The more she realized it, the more she latched onto this plan.

"I can't believe I still haven't gone there with you guys!" Mimi said, eyes now lit up with excitement. "We'll have the whole beach to ourselves. There are even some trails in the forest behind the beach house, it's really peaceful there. In a way, going there always reminded me of…"

Sora watched as Mimi's smile faded away.

"Oh, Mimi…" Sora got up and sat at her side on the bed. "I think we should all still go. We'll never forget our adventures in the Digital World. Maybe going together will be good for all of us."

"I agree with Sora," said Kari, appearing at Mimi's other side. "It could help us heal a little bit. And it could be fun."

"You two…" Mimi said, turning her head towards them both, her eyes watering as her lips formed into a smile.

Suddenly, Sora's phone sounded off with a buzz. Mimi's and Kari's buzzed at the same time, and Mimi pulled her phone out first.

"Ooh, it's from Matt," Mimi said. Sora and Kari took their phones out as well, all of them reading the message to themselves.

" _Hey, friends. My band is ready to play again, so we're having a gig on the 26_ _th_ _at 9pm. It's our first show in months, and I'd be really happy if all of you could make it."_

"A gig?!" Mimi exclaimed. "How exciting!"

"Count me in!" Kari said cheerfully. "Sora, are you?"

"I know I am," she said with a smile, although it was faltering.

The trip to the beach house, and now Matt's gig. Chances that Tai would agree to go to either were slim, but Sora didn't want to imagine going without seeing him there. She went to Matt's last gig with Tai a few months back, and it was one of the most fun nights she had in a while. But knowing Tai lately, she could only guess what he was going to say.

She had to convince him to go this time.

* * *

 _ **July 24, 20XX**_

Sora kept herself busy, hanging out with her friends more and volunteering at the clinic. Everyone was anticipating Matt's gig, and Sora was really looking forward to going. She met up with Matt earlier that day in front of Matt's garage, where the band had just finished a rehearsal.

"You know, I did say I would be happy if 'all' of us could be there," Matt told her. "I said, ' _all_ '. Tai could have at least replied with one word saying he wasn't going."

Sora crossed her arms at him.

"You could ask the others, Sora. He seems to be buddy-buddy with Izzy now, but the rest of us don't exist to him. Seriously, he could just send 'no' – a two-letter word…"

As much as this trouble weighed more heavily on her mind, Sora was more anxious about not having seen Tai in nearly a week. Surprisingly, he was suddenly occupying his time by hanging out with Izzy more often. At the last dinner with the Izumis, Izzy's parents talked excitedly about how happy they were to see Izzy spend time with his best friend again.

She went to Tai's place that evening, keeping the question about Matt's gig for him at the ready, but more so wanting to fulfill her yearning to see him. Kari and Mrs. Kamiya were already in their rooms, leaving Sora alone with Tai on the living room couch. She rested her head on his chest, taking in his scent – a fresh, grassy scent. Tai held her close and started playing with her strawberry-brown hair, attempting to twirl a lock of it with his finger. Then she lifted her head up just as he looked down to meet her gaze.

Sora looked at him longingly. Maybe it was because she hadn't seen him in a week. Maybe she was tired of worrying about everyone, about herself, about him. But it was one of those times that she didn't want to care for anything, and the only thing that mattered was being with him.

"What is it?" Tai asked as his curious brown eyes twinkled in front of her, his lips looking smooth and inviting. Without saying anything, she licked her own lips and drew closer, holding the back of his neck as she moved up for their lips to touch. He quickly caught on, his hand lowering to the small of her back as he moved his lips with hers. Her hands then moved from his neck to the back of his head, her fingers gently massaging his scalp as she ran them through his hair. She kissed him slowly and softly, eager to see his reaction when she brushed her tongue against his.

Tai let out a soft sigh, and Sora felt excitement rushing through her. She gasped as his hand snuck its way underneath her strapped tank top and bra and onto her breast, only fueling her desire to kiss him more. Her heart beat faster, her face feeling hot as their kisses became more passionate, being more playful with their tongues. Sora's hand then trailed down from his neck, to his chest, then lower past his belly button, feeling a hardness down his-

"Mm—Sora…" Tai breathed, pulling them apart. "Not here…" Sora hovered over him, panting with her cheeks flushed, her lips numb from those sweet kisses. His eyes were now lit up towards her, his stare matching her desire. They both got up, arm in arm as they walked to his room. The longer she waited, the more unbearable it became.

As soon as Tai closed the door, they had taken hold of each other again, their lips locked onto each other, their hands running wild. They stepped carefully from the door as they made their way toward the bed, taking off each article of clothing one by one until there was no more. Then, as they stopped at the foot of the bed, Sora climbed on backwards as Tai followed forward, holding himself over her by resting the palms of his hands on either side of her.

Sora, now laying flat against the bed, looked into his eyes again, wondering which Tai she was looking at in that very moment. It wasn't the one who had the far off look in his eyes; it was the one who was in front of her, who was there for her whenever she needed him; the one who laughed at her when she first confessed her feelings to him; the one who was now smiling at the touch of her hand on his cheek.

Sora put her arms around Tai's neck as he looked at her, waiting. Then, she nodded, her legs wrapped around his bottom, and together they breathed deeply as he finally moved his way into her.

* * *

"What is it now?" Tai asked.

They were now laying on their sides facing each other. Tai had put his boxer shorts back on and Sora wrapped his blanket on her body under her arms. As her mind cleared from her euphoric mood, thoughts and doubts were slowly rolling back in. She was looking at him as she did before, wondering if the man in front of her was truly as content as he looked now.

It always happened after they made love nowadays. He didn't want to talk about anything, so she never bothered to try. But now, he was being attentive for the first time in a while; was it worth saying something?

"You know, you're always spending so much time with me… Don't you want to make time for everyone else, too?"

"Ah…" Tai's content expression lessened, to the point where he turned away. "Everyone else…"

Sora's heart sank, realizing she should have seen this coming. She tried to keep going. "You're hanging out with Izzy more now, aren't you? I think that's great. But, the others are still waiting for you. They want to see you too."

He sat up on the edge of the bed, back turned to Sora. "You want me to go to Matt's gig."

Sora raised herself up, leaning against her elbow. "It'll be fun, just like it always was. And it'll be great for you to hang out with all of us again."

"I can't go."

"But Tai-"

"I said, I can't go!"

Sora was taken aback by his raised voice, too startled to speak.

"Sora, it was fun before," Tai started, lowering his voice, "but it's not the same anymore. It can never be the same. I can't face them…"

It's not the same, he says. But his reaction, his attitude toward his friends since that day, it had always been the same to her. She was now past the point of patience, and she felt the fury rising in her chest.

"I know you won't even tell me anything…" said Sora, her voice low but shaking and quickly rising. "But you not facing them…It's the same thing as you leaving them behind!"

"That's not true!" Tai said as Sora quickly got up from the bed, still wrapped in the blanket. She started picking up her clothes from the floor, but she was more than ready to rage.

"Yeah? Tell me when's the last time you talked to them?! Matt's been aggravated by this! Mimi is incredibly irritated! Joe is worried sick! Don't even ask how Izzy was before you finally talked to him again. And T.K? That kid loves you like you're his own sibling, this has been really hard on him, too! Oh, and Kari, your actual sibling, is worried about you too!"

"You don't understand! It's hard to explain!" Tai yelled. Sora had put on her panties and bra, throwing the blanket onto the floor but stopped to look at Tai, her eyes narrowed.

"Look, I'm not even going to start talking about the real problem here," Sora said heatedly. "But they are our _friends_!If you won't talk to anyone else, then don't even bother talking to me!"

"Sora-!" She had already put on the rest of her clothes, throwing the door open as she stormed out of his room. Tai followed her hurriedly, calling her name but getting no response back. "Sora, please, don't do this…"

Her eyes flashed with anger at him as he stared with his panicked, pleading eyes. Her only response was putting her shoes on, standing up, and slamming the front door shut behind her as she walked out of his home.


	5. Chapter 5

**..CHASING THE SUN..**

 **.**

 **Into the Night - Part V**

 _ **July 26, 20XX**_

On the evening of Matt's gig, Sora showed up to the venue alone, sporting a tank top and a denim skirt. The front doors were already opened, and the sizeable crowd of people her age hanging around outside started to make their way inside.

"Sora!" Mimi called happily. Sora, ecstatic to see her, gave Mimi a tight hug when they ran to each other. Mimi looked at her and pouted. "You look gorgeous. He's a fool to be missing out."

"None of that now, Meems," said Sora, pressing her hands onto Mimi's cheeks. "I want to have fun tonight."

"Then, let's do it." Mimi then took Sora's hand and started pulling her to the venue. "We've been waiting for you—come inside!"

Together, they wormed their way through the crowd of people, waving at the ticket attendants at the front who knew recognized them by face. Heads turned at the two of them passing by, a few males eyeing Mimi, some even giving her some stares. Sora brushed it off, not wanting to deal with any unwanted attention that night.

Friendlier faces appeared when they arrived to the front and center of the floor, closest to Matt's mic stand on the stage. Joe, Kari, T.K., and Izzy were all there. They greeted Sora with cheerful moods, though Sora sensed they were uneasy. Kari looked especially sorry, most likely since she was there to hear the loud argument and the door slamming that night.

"Hey!" Mimi said with her hands on her hips and a stern look on her face. "This is a time to be excited! We're here for Matt, so no gloomy faces!"

Sora felt her phone buzz, instantly knowing who she was getting a message from.

" _Enjoy yourself tonight."_

She hadn't received any messages from Tai before this one, but she did get a few missed calls from him. It wasn't that she was never aware of his calls—she stared at his name light up on the screen whenever she saw her phone ring, letting it beep until the screen went dark. She was too upset to answer, and she already wasted enough energy agonizing over him.

"Sora?" Mimi said, tilting her head, looking concerned. Sora pushed the button on the side of her phone, powering it down.

"It's nothing," she said, tucking her phone into her bag.

Soon, the lights in the room dimmed and bright lights lit the stage before them. Sora didn't realize just how many people were in the room until she heard the roaring cheers all around her. It only got louder when Matt and his three bandmates went on stage and quickly played through the first song of the set.

"We are Knife of Day!" Matt announced through the microphone, and Sora cheered along, hiding her disdain—What kind of name was that, really?

Not that it mattered; she was watching a dear friend sing and play his own music, while cheering and dancing with her friends around her, having a great time. In that moment, as Knife of Day played through their set, she couldn't have cared about anything else.

* * *

When the gig was over, the group minus Izzy followed Matt and his band to his favorite bar down the road from the venue. The bar's owner smiled and greeted them all from behind the bar counter—He knew them by name after seeing them so regularly for a time. Mimi, Sora, Joe, and Kari in this order sat at a round table booth while Matt and T.K. went to order from the bar.

"Drinks and food are all on me!" said Matt when he arrived at their table. He set down a tray full of pints of beer and some cocktail drinks, and T.K. followed behind with a plate of fried chicken. Joe helped Matt set the tray down, passing a cocktail each to Kari and Mimi, setting beers aside for Matt and T.K., as well as one for himself. Sora took her drink and wasted no time taking sips. It was her second drink since they arrived.

"The fried chicken is delicious here!" Mimi said, taking the plate and grabbing a wing before passing it around the table. "Mmm—I missed this!"

"Izzy left, didn't he?" Matt said, taking a seat at the end of the table after T.K. sat next to Kari.

"You know him," said Kari. "He's not into this kind of thing."

"Don't you think he's been acting strange lately, though?" Joe asked. "Ever since, you know, since he…"

"You can say it." Sora said. "Since he started hanging out with Tai again."

They all turned to her, looking surprised. She looked back at all of them as sipping more of her drink nonchalantly, knowing they were afraid of mentioning his name in front of her.

"It's not a big deal," she continued. "Izzy tends to take his time with these things, but I trust that he'll tell us anything before Tai ever does."

Sora sipped on with her drink, seeing in the corner of her eye how the others were reacting. T.K. and Kari sat there, sharing a glance and then turned to silently munch on their food. Joe shifted uncomfortably in his seat next to her, while Matt just watched her.

Mimi laughed from Sora's other side. "You're snappy tonight, Sora."

"I'm just telling it like it is. No thanks," she added, taking a plate of food from Mimi and handing it to Joe next to her.

"Well…I better get back to my band," said Matt, getting up. "I'm keeping my tab open for you guys. You should eat." Sora saw Matt looking at her as he said that before he walked away.

"Are you not hungry, Sora?" Joe asked, cautiously.

"I'm fine," she said as she started to feel less snappy and increasingly elated as she made the last of her drink disappear up her straw.

"I don't think we've had enough drinks, haven't we, Sora?" Mimi asked, giggling. Sora couldn't help but giggle with her.

"That last drink wasn't strong enough," Sora replied. Mimi got up first, stumbling a little but quickly straightening herself up, then she helped Sora out of her seat. As Sora stood up, she felt a wave of dizziness that vanished as soon as she felt it, but caught a glimpse of T.K., Kari, and Joe having a hushed conversation together as they looked toward her. She thought nothing of anything, and when Mimi grabbed hold of her and started laughing, Sora burst into laughter with her. Feeling like nothing could bring her down, she grabbed Mimi's hand and pulled her towards the bar.


	6. Chapter 6

**..CHASING THE SUN..**

 **.**

 **Into the Night - Part VI**

 _ **One year ago, June**_

Time Shadows _was the fighter video game Tai could never stop playing. He played through the story mode on every difficulty for who knows how many times, and he always made anyone who visited him play against him. It was his absolute, favorite video game of all time._

 _He even got Sora to play it with him once. Even though he knew she loved to watch him play his games, she wasn't really into playing them._

" _You're really good at this," Tai told her, staring intently at his character on the screen while pushing the buttons on his controller. Her character, a female warrior with no weapons but her fists and legs, was beating his go-to samurai character to a pulp._

" _I can't…let…you…win…!" Sora sat next to him on the floor, concentrating on remembering the right button combinations, which she mastered very quickly._

" _You're going down!" Tai mashed his buttons now, waiting for his special attack to pull through. "-Nooo!"_

" _I won?" Sora stared in astonishment. Tai lowered his head into his hand._

" _You won."_

" _I won!" She laughed gleefully. "I don't believe it! Wait…" She then nudged his arm. "You didn't let me win, did you?"_

 _Tai looked up at her. "Why would I do that?"_

" _You let me win!" Feigning disbelief, she grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him backwards._

" _I did no—hey! Sora-!" He struggled against her as he fell backward to the ground, laughing with her as she playfully wrestled with him. "I didn't let you win!"_

" _You did too! I can't forgive you for this!"_

 _She refused to let him get up. As she kept him down, he looked for an opening to strike. When he found it, he reached for the side of her stomach and attacked with a tickle. Immediately, she was disarmed with laughter, causing the tables to turn and allowing him to break free of her grasp. He sat up and continued tickling her sides, forcing her to fall towards him and hold onto his shoulders._

" _Stop! Tai!" she barely let out as she couldn't stop laughing. He enjoyed playing with her, and hearing her laugh was like a song he wanted to hear forever._

 _When their laughter died down, her soft, amber eyes were looking up at his, the light from his room making them sparkle. It was in that moment being up close that he noticed her radiance, with the warm smile she gave him and the pretty, strawberry brown locks that fell around her face. He always noticed it since they first met in grade school and all throughout high school, but never thought about what it meant to him. It even made T.K. ask him about it when he caught him staring at her once in the Digital World._

 _Now that their noses nearly touched, he was slowly starting to realize what it meant to him, and it prompted him to close his eyes and go in for a kiss. It was their first one, and he felt her breathe it in slowly as he pressed his lips against the softness of hers._

" _Do you want a rematch, then?" Tai asked when he pulled away. He felt his cheeks warm but he watched her, waiting for her response. Sora's voice seemed to be caught in her throat for a moment._

" _N-no," she said, blushing. Then she smiled sheepishly. "I like this better." Then she moved towards him, making him fall backwards as she kissed him back._

* * *

 _ **July 26, 20XX**_

Tai dropped his game controller to the floor, watching the words "Game Over" scroll across the screen. His favorite samurai character lay unconscious on the ground in the background, as the female warrior stepped onto his stomach holding a victory pose. Out of all the opponents that could have been randomly selected…

All he wanted to do was to escape from his thoughts, yet his mind was too muddled to even play his game.

Not knowing what else to do, he picked up his phone and found that there was a message. He thought it was Sora, but the burst of hope he had was instantly deflated when he saw the message was from Izzy. Izzy, who seemingly was his only friend right now.

" _Sorry, Tai, just got your message. I'm heading back to the stadium—I'm tired from Matt's concert. Let's meet up another time."_

Tai's face fell even lower than it already had. Hanging out with Izzy was one thing he looked forward to ever since they started talking again. He felt comfortable with Izzy, especially since he didn't have to worry about either of them sharing their feelings.

What he was extremely interested in, however, was Izzy's research on his map of the Digital World. Izzy had been showing him various codes, explaining in confusing detail that there were certain variables and algorithms he was tweaking to unlock something hidden on that map. All that Tai saw was hope that it would help him save what he lost with his friends, and maybe fix what was broken inside himself…

It was another one of those thoughts wracking his brain, another thing he wanted to set aside and try to ignore for another day. Everything to him was a losing battle, even though he knew, that somewhere in him, there was his will to fight, like a dying spark refusing to go out.

 _Sora_. Hearing her name in his mind was like a small burst of wind pushing against the spark igniting a flame. On his phone, he opened her message thread ending with the last message he sent her. He knew she was furious with him, and she had every right to be; yet, he wanted to talk to her to make amends. He had no clue how he was going to do it, but he knew he needed to see her.

Dialing Sora's number led his call straight to her voicemail.

Something wasn't right—Sora's phone was never turned off. She would never let her battery drain. Did she turn it off with intent?

 _I really screwed up_ , he thought to himself. Getting up from the floor, he got dressed into a T-shirt and cargo shorts and headed out into the night, going to the one place he knew Sora would be at that very moment.

* * *

The bar was busy as usual at this time of the evening. Tai walked past groups of people as music played overhead. There was chatter about how great Knife of Day was tonight, to which Tai remembered how terrible the name sounded to him.

He looked around, watching out for Sora's distinct flipped-out hairstyle through the dimmed lighting of the bar and seating area. Tai's hair stood out more, as his named was called out when he was recognized before he could keep looking. He looked over to the bar where the bar's owner held his hand up as a friendly greeting. Before he was able to scan the bar, he heard another voice.

"Tai! It's really you!"

T.K. stood up from the booth and quickly ran to him.

"T.K…." Tai was speechless. Sora's words from last time fell on his ears as T.K. hugged him tightly.

"You really came! I'm so glad!"

"It's good to see you." It hurt him, realizing how much he missed T.K. as he hugged him back.

As soon as they let go of each other, Tai was face-to-face with his younger sister, looking especially angry with her reddened cheeks from which he could only perceive that she had been drinking.

"It's about time you showed up," she said, crossly. "I tried to contact you. Do you not even look at your phone anymore?"

"Not since I left the house," he replied, unsettled with her reaction. "Listen, I need to talk to Sora. Where is she?"

Kari was fuming. "That's why I was calling! She's not acting like herself. She was drinking, she hardly touched any food, and I think she's still the bar…"

Something definitely wasn't right.

"She must have forgotten to eat again," Tai said, quickly turning to look at the bar, and then—

"Well, well, well." Matt appeared before the three of them, crossing his arms. "I can't believe you had the nerve to even show up."

Tai didn't think this through. Even as Joe approached, looking incredulous at the sight of Tai, he didn't expect to run into meeting the group all together like this. It was something that he had been dreading to face for weeks.

Before he could think up what to say next, Tai heard a piercing scream from behind him. Silence fell throughout the bar. Matt looked over and motioned Tai to turn around, and by the look on Matt's face, Tai could only fear what he would see when he did.

Sora had just been thrown backward, being caught from behind by Mimi. The guy in front of her, taller and burly in his sleeveless shirt, was knocked down to the floor, holding the side of his face which looked red but quickly turning into a darker shade of blue. Sora was wringing her hand, and Tai could see a hint of redness on her knuckles.

"Did Sora just…?" Tai heard Joe say.

The same piercing scream was let out again, and this time Tai could see a girl their age running to the fallen guy and she turned to Sora.

"You crazy-ass _bitch!_ " the girl yelled. "What the hell did my boyfriend do to you?!"

"You should probably ask him!" Sora said loudly, standing herself up from Mimi, who looked on with a glare. "Ask him why he can't keep his filthy hands to himself!"

Tai felt his temper rising. He stepped forward but Matt held his arm out to stop him, giving him a serious look that Tai acknowledged as a sign to stand by. Sora and Mimi were tough and could take care of themselves; he and Matt wouldn't interfere now, but they were ready to charge in for them at any time.

"You're lying! My man would never do that!" said the girl, as other girls slowly started showing up behind her. "Who would believe a stupid girl like you when all you talk about are stupid monsters saving the world?"

Heart caught in his throat, Tai surveyed the others behind him, seeing the pained look on their faces. Clenching his teeth and fists, he looked over to Sora who looked furious as ever.

"Shut up!" Sora yelled, taking a step forward towards the girl. "You know don't know anything about them!"

"You really think they were fighting for good? How delusional can you be?"

"She's not delusional!" Mimi said, stepping forward too. "You need to back off about this, okay?"

"You're both insane!" The girl was now laughing. "You poor things, living a fantasy where monsters are good and fight evil." Then she stopped laughing, eyes narrowing at them. "Get real. All monsters are evil. They deserved to die."

Sora lunged forward at the girl, throwing her fist right at the girl's face.

"Shit," Tai muttered, running towards them with Matt alongside him, as onlookers quickly crowded around the scene, only getting in their way. Four of the girl's friends now rushed toward Mimi and Sora, leaving behind the girl who was now down on the ground, sobbing as she held her cheek. One of the girls grasped for Sora's hair and Sora pushed her back in defense. Sora yelled out as Mimi screamed and swatted that girl away from Sora.

Tai and Matt tried to push people out of their way to get to them. "Sora!" Tai called as he saw her push another girl away from her, and another appeared with a broken glass bottle. The girl cried in a rage as she aimed the jagged edges of the bottle at Sora's face. Sora dodged quickly enough for it to miss her head, but yelped in pain as the jagged edges of the bottle clawed the side of her shoulder.

It was really chaotic. The third and fourth girl were now closing in, though Tai was finally through the crowd of people to push those girls out of the way from Sora, with Matt following closely behind.

Sora was now on the ground, holding hand on her forehead. Mimi crouched down with her, but the girl Sora punched before was now back up, ready to throw one back at her. Tai was close enough to throw himself in front of Sora and Mimi. The girl stopped and was flung behind by the beefy boyfriend, who was now standing, chest puffed out, face-to-face with Tai, who was in a stance with his fists clenched and ready for a fight.


	7. Chapter 7

**..CHASING THE SUN..**

 **.**

 **Into the Night - Part VII**

 _ **July 26, 20XX (cont.)**_

"ENOUGH!" came a yell. Silence fell again, and the barman appeared from behind the bar, looking absolutely livid. "Alright, break it up! No fighting in my bar! All of you will have to leave for the night!"

Tai kept his glare locked onto the bigger guy in front of him, who stepped away slowly with his angry eyes staring back. Then a hand was placed on Tai's shoulder – it was Matt, who gave him the same serious face from before.

"My arm… my head…" Tai turned around to see Mimi helping Sora who was struggling to stand. He looked at them and the rest of his friends further behind them, as well as all the people around who had their unwelcome attention. It would be impossible for anyone else there to side with Sora and the rest of them. He needed to get his friends outside to prevent any more trouble.

"Tai…?" Mimi asked, tilted her head to the side and squinting as though she couldn't see him even being up close. Tai put his hand on Mimi's shoulder and examined her—he could tell she had a few drinks, but she was more conscious than Sora was now.

"You two should get outside," he said. "Are you okay to walk on your own?"

"I think so," Mimi said.

The crowd was slowly dispersing, chattering excitedly about what they just witnessed. With haste, Tai grabbed Joe and told him to follow Mimi and Sora, but he was already digging through his bag for the first aid supplies he kept in there as he followed them out. Then Tai went over to the T.K. and Kari, who were gathering everyone's things, including Sora's and Mimi's bags. Kari refused to make eye contact with him.

"Matt and I will meet you outside," Tai told her and T.K., then hurried with Matt to confront the barman, both of them bowing in front of him as an apology. They never imagined they would cause a scene like this, much less at a bar where they knew and respected its owner.

Geez," said the barman with a sigh, shaking his head. "I know you kids had no intention of fighting. I saw it all unfold. I just didn't expect that from Sora. That girl had a lot to drink tonight—make sure she gets home safely."

"Yes, sir," they said in unison.

Tai couldn't help but feel guiltier by the moment as he and Matt walked out of the bar quietly. Why did Sora turn her phone off? Why did she barely eat? Why did she drink so much?

It was hard to believe it was because of anything other than him.

"You know, all of this could have been avoided," Matt said, matter-of-factly, as though he read Tai's mind.

Tai felt a pang of annoyance. "Let's just get to the others," he said.

They found the rest of the group sitting on a bench not too far from the bar. Sora hung her head low as Joe examined her forehead and eyelids, and Kari was next to her, cleaning up Sora's shoulder wound with gauze and some antiseptic liquid.

Mimi had run into two of the girls from the bar and was screaming at them as T.K. tried pulling her back with her arm.

"Mimi," Matt said under his breath, running towards her. Tai followed suit.

"You'll pay for what you did to Sora!" Mimi shouted, struggling to throw her hands at the girls in front of her, who stood in front of her, making provoking gestures toward Mimi.

"Hey!" Matt yelled, standing himself in the middle of them, confronting the two girls. "We already got kicked out of the bar tonight. Let's not get into any more trouble than we already are."

"Tai?" Mimi said, no longer struggling and standing up. She seemed to recognize him now, but before Tai knew it, she was running toward him, raising her hand and ready to throw it at him.

"Mimi!" T.K. called, grabbing hold of her again as Tai stepped backward, and this time, Matt stopped in front her, too, holding her shoulders.

" _Calm down_ , Mimi," said Matt who was staring at Mimi intently, and Tai watched Mimi shoulders relax from being tense. She glanced at Tai, then scoffed as she looked away.

"Hey, aren't you the lead singer?" said one of the other girls Matt just confronted. He turned around at them again, and Tai saw the two girls' expressions had changed.

"That's me."

"Your band is really amazing," the other girl said coyly, but suggestively. "You have an awesome voice. You should hang out with us sometime."

Matt stared at them impassively. "I've got better things to do." Then he turned to Mimi, helping T.K. walk her towards the rest of the group.

"Are you okay?" Matt asked her, as Tai carefully walked ahead of them to get to Sora. Him being there was tense for everyone, but he had to make sure everyone, including Sora, was okay.

"I still feel dizzy from drinking, but I'll be fine," Mimi replied, the tone of her voice now calm. "I think I should call a car. I can take everyone home. I just don't know where my phone is…"

"I'll take care of it, don't worry," Matt told her reassuringly.

A heaving sound was heard then, and they all turned to see Joe jump back, Sora leaning to edge of the bench opposite where Kari sat. Tai immediately ran over as Kari hunched over Sora with her hand placed on Sora's back in comfort.

"Geez, Sora," said Tai when he finally got to her as she coughed up the sick in front of her.

"She hasn't said a word," Joe told him as he stood next to him, worried. "I've told her once before about her eating habits, I didn't expect that about her drinking, but right now, she's not in the best mood…"

"You did this, Tai…" Kari whispered suddenly, her head down and eyes not meeting Tai's. Then she looked up at him, her eyes glistening with angry tears. "If you came to the gig tonight and looked after her… If you weren't so closed off from us… None of this would have happened!"

"Kari…" T.K. said nervously, rushing over to her.

"No, T.K., it's alright," said Tai, feeling his shoulders tremble. He was feeling annoyed, afraid, angry, maybe at Kari, maybe at everyone else, maybe at himself. "She's right. None of this would have happened, if it weren't for me. It's all my fault…"

Past memories began to trickle into his mind, each one flashing after another… Tai discovering Agumon in an alleyway, where Agumon jumped into his arms and joyfully greeted him… The Digimon partners warning their humans of the threat to come… Tai, Matt, and Izzy huddling together in front of Izzy's laptop, watching various points on the map light up as an army of Digimon entered the real world at the same time… Tai coming up with a plan, and leading everyone to fight, even when half of the team disagreed… and then…

"Hey, Tai," said Matt.

Tai blinked and saw in front of him that T.K. was now sitting next to Kari, both of them now looking at him with concern.

"Come on, Tai, let's talk about this," continued Matt, who was now holding Mimi's phone, with Mimi holding onto his shoulder, watching Tai with a frown.

Tai shook his head, the memories still fresh on his mind. Sometimes he tried pushing them out from his mind; sometimes he succumbed to them, letting the guilt take over. "There is nothing to talk about. I…I screwed up… I shouldn't have come here."

"Tai…?" came a weak voice. It was enough for the memories to crumble and drift away from his thoughts. Everyone turned to look at Sora, who was stirring from her face-down position on the bench. "Is he here…?"

"I'm here, Sora," he said, crouching down to her eye level. Her eyes were still closed, but she had a look of pain.

"Take me home, Tai… please…" It surprised him, considering how things were left between them the last time. He wasn't sure whether it was because of her current state of mind and the alcohol that could very well be affecting her, but there was no doubt he wouldn't refuse her bidding regardless.

"Of course I will." Tai caressed the hair covering part of her face, then he stood up. He looked at everyone in front of him—Joe, Kari, T.K., Mimi, and Matt. They all looked back at him, not saying a word, but with the same understanding that it was best for them all to put their issues to rest for the time being; they would have to talk later, after they all recovered from the events of the night.

* * *

As soon as Tai helped Sora out of Mimi's limousine, she bent down at the curb to throw up again.

"We're almost home, Sora," Tai said, rubbing her back as she coughed, then helping her drink water from a bottle Mimi had in the car. "Can you walk up the stairs?"

Sora shook her head.

"Here, hold on," he said, putting her arms around his neck as he lifted her up, holding her from her back and her legs. He carried her in silence as her face rested on his shoulder, and he got a whiff of her perfume of sweet citrus, which was surprising to him, all things considered.

Unable to find her house key, he took note of the lights on from inside her house and knocked for Mrs. Takenouchi to answer the door. She answered, though with a look of confusion and heavy concern at Sora's current state.

"We'll explain later," he said quietly, setting Sora down to remove his shoes, then helping Sora remove hers. He helped her walk through the living room and into her bedroom, where he led her to lay in her bed, with him sitting beside her.

Sora's room was always clean and tidy. There were no clothes scattered on her floor but all folded neatly in her drawers and hung in her closet; her desk was clear of scattered pencils and accessories. That's why it caught Tai's attention to see her bedside drawer left pulled open, showing her small light blue digivice, shining only by the glare of the light turned on in her room. He pushed the drawer to close it. He had been wondering since then where she put hers, even though he never wanted to ask her.

He carried his in his pocket this whole time.

"You were there earlier, weren't you?" she asked, looking at him, sounding a little stronger than before, but quiet and exhausted. Her words were slurring a little, and her face was pink. "I was in that fight, and I saw you protecting me…"

"I was pretty late in getting there…" Tai said. "But we saw you and Mimi were holding your own. Geez, can you throw a punch, Sora."

Sora laughed. "Only when they're deserving of it." Then she sat up, taking his arm, and holding it tightly as she leaned herself against him. "Did you hear what that girl said? Why I punched her?"

"Yes…" Tai said, feeling his chest tighten from remembering. "She said that… that they deserved to die."

She held onto him a little closer. "You don't believe that, do you?"

Tai looked at Sora in surprise. "No—No, Sora; of course not. What makes you ask that?"

"I'm sure you don't, I just had to ask… I mean… you never talk about them. The Digimon."

"Sora…"

"You never mention them… I haven't heard you say his name once since… Don't you wish you could see Agumon again? I want to see Biyomon, so badly… I wish I could have protected her then…"

Her face was now buried into his arm, and he could hear her sobbing quietly. She wouldn't have been so honest if she wasn't still drunk; Tai knew that much. Either way, it was already excruciating to talk about the thing he was so used to avoiding by now; but it was even worse having to see her cry.

He was brought back to the day before the plan of attack, when she shouted over everyone, nearly in tears, as most of the team were divided over Tai's plan. She had convinced everyone, even Matt, to agree with it, although she told Tai later in confidence that she was afraid of the outcome, either way.

He would never come to terms with the outcome that they were all now suffering through. Tai motioned her to lean towards his chest, putting his arms around her to hold her. It only made her cry harder.

"If you don't want to cry, then I will just cry for me and you both, baka…" she said, and he wrapped his arms around her more tightly, his eyes closed, wanting to block out those unwanted memories, including the new ones of his friends confronting him tonight.

"I know you're here with me now," Sora continued, and he opened his eyes to see her looking up at him with tears pouring down her face. "But I miss you, Tai. I miss you so much. I wish you could just talk to me, like you always did before. I hate seeing you like this…"

He was silent as he listened to her pleading voice, her words shattering him. She wanted the old Tai back, but even he didn't know how to get to him. Taking her drunkenness to his advantage, he decided to ask something that he knew she would answer truthfully, no holds barred.

"What if things don't go back the way they used to be? What if… What if I just stayed like this? Are you going to leave me?"

"What…Leave you…?" Sora stared at him, eyebrows furrowing, looking shaken by his questions. "Tai, baka… I waited for you for the longest time, even throughout high school… After all we've been through, I could never leave you." She buried herself onto his chest, now sobbing into his shirt, and then she added so quietly:

"I'll wait for you for as long as it takes… because I love you… way too much…"

Tai sat there, stunned.

He had been holding back saying that to her for the longest time. Never, in a million years, did he ever believe Sora would want to be with a guy like him in the first place. His childhood best friend who was always there for him, his lover who shines the light in his darkness, even when he has no will to fight it. And now she says _that_ so freely… Is this why she fights so hard for him…?

He couldn't find any words to say. All he could do was hold her with her hands clinging to his back, as he listened to her calling him 'baka' over and over, crying until she tired herself out and fell asleep in his arms.


	8. Chapter 8

**..CHASING THE SUN..**

 **.**

 **Into the Night - Part VIII**

 _ **July 27, 20XX**_

 _Baka…!_

Sora opened her eyes as her own voice echoed in her head. She looked around, seeing the light from the sun glaring through the curtains of her window. Running her hands on her blanket and sheets, it occurred to her that she was at home, in her own bed. As soon as she sat up, she felt a wave of nausea creeping up her throat, her head was throbbing, and her arm was sore and wrapped in a bandage.

What the hell happened last night?

She got up carefully, hoping the nausea wouldn't worsen, then she slowly walked up to the long mirror placed on the wall next to her closet. She was still in her tank top and skirt from the night before, and her hair was all over the place. Her eyes were dry, puffy and a little red—had she been crying?

It was then she heard some clanging and sizzling from the kitchen. Her bedroom door was left ajar, and she could smell something savory as she inched towards it. Peering from her door, she was surprised to see Tai in the kitchen, scrambling eggs in a bowl and letting something cook on the frying pan on the stove.

More questions popped into her head as she grabbed clean clothes from her closet drawer—a clean shirt and shorts—and carried them along with her to the bathroom. She tried to remember the events from the night before as she showered. She had only eaten a little before the gig, but then drank a lot afterward. How many times she asked for refills was too many to count.

She winced as the hot water of the shower ran over the back of her right hand. _Oh, right…_ she remembered that guy with the muscles. He invited himself into her and Mimi's conversation— _what were they talking about, again?_ —and they played it cool, until he started making advances towards her. He couldn't take no for an answer, so that's where her fist came in.

But, somehow, she remembered the image of Tai standing in front of her as she was on the ground after punching the guy. Mimi was next to her, asking if she was alright.

Tai, whom she was supposed to be angry with, was there. But, how?

The rest of the night was blank from her memory. After she dried herself from showering and put her clothes on, she went into the kitchen to meet him.

"Good morning," he said, now flipping an omelette on the pan. "Take a seat. It's almost ready."

She obeyed, walking wearily to the dining table. Soon, he transferred the omelette onto the plate, then took a ketchup bottle and squeezed some over the omelette before serving it to her at the table.

"Omurice, just how you like it," he said, taking a seat next to her. She looked at him questioningly as he looked back. "Can you eat?"

"I hope so," she said. She cut a piece of it with her fork and took a bite, feeling some discomfort at first, but at the same time, overwhelming relief as it was satisfying the hunger she didn't realize she had in the first place.

"You forgot to eat again last night, didn't you?" he said as she wolfed down a few bites. "And you drank a lot. You really aren't worrying about yourself at all. What the hell were you thinking, Sora?"

Sora stopped eating and gave him a look. She opened her mouth to say something, but not before he said something first.

"Don't answer that," he said then, looking elsewhere.

It fell silent between them as she continued eating, though she felt better with each spoonful. She noticed him watching her eat, as though he was waiting for her to say something. She wanted to ask him to tell her what happened, but that's when she noticed the lines under his eyes as he was drifting off.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" she asked as he opened his eyes again.

"Hardly."

"I guess it was a rough night for all of us," Sora thought aloud, now wondering about the others. "I can't remember anything from last night."

Tai perked up at that. "Really? You don't?"

"Nothing after I punched that guy. And then when you showed up."

"…Huh."

Sora tried to remember more. Bits and pieces of the conversations leading up to that punch entered her mind, and the more she remembered, the stupider she began to feel.

"I shouldn't have said those things…" Sora began, holding her palm to her forehead.

"…What do you mean?" Tai asked, staring at her in wonder.

Sora remembered thinking how thoughtful and knowledgeable the guy at the bar appeared to be, until he mentioned what he had seen on the news, and then when he mentioned the Digimon. Her forehead now met the edge of the tabletop as she explained this to Tai.

"Who, in their right mind, would listen to a drunk girl who sees monsters for good? I can't believe I did that. How can anyone else understand if they didn't live through it? I only made a fool of myself…" She felt Tai rub her back in comfort.

"You're not the fool here, Sora," Tai said. "Besides… You wouldn't have thrown a punch to make a fool of yourself. You'd have a very good reason."

"I suppose…" Sora sat back up, staring at her half-eaten omelette. "They'd have to be deserving of it."

Tai fell silent again. The more Sora ate, the more she wondered if Tai was looking like something was bothering him, or if he was just too tired to stay awake.

"I assume you brought me home?" Sora asked him while he yawned.

"I did," Tai replied. "You asked me to."

"Did I bother you much?"

"Not at all."

Tai rested his head on the table, and Sora started to wonder as she stared at him. She couldn't remember a time where her memory blanked out from alcohol, but seeing that Tai stayed over…

"Tai, did you and I…?"

"No, Sora," he said, closing his eyes. "I wouldn't do that to you." Sora was relieved.

"What kept you up?" she asked, curiously.

"I…was watching you sleep."

She looked at him, alarmed. "You didn't have to do that."

"You do that for me all the time," he replied, sleepily. "Besides, you… were upset because of me…"

"I see," Sora said, thinking about her swollen eyes.

Just as she finished the omurice plate clean, she noticed Tai's breathing was slow and steady, and he was lying very still. It wasn't in her heart nor in her mind right now to talk to him about their last fight. All she thought about was that he had been at her side, taking care of her, even if she was supposed to be mad at him.

"Okay…let's get you to bed." She nudged him to get him to open his eyes. Then she grabbed his arm to put around her shoulder and helped him get up, walking him to her room. She felt a sense of déjà vu as they walked together, thinking that she would probably have to give her mother an explanation the next time she saw her.

When she tucked him into her bed, his drooping eyes were watching her again, keeping hold of her hand in his.

"Do you really not remember what happened last night?" he asked.

Sora tried to replay last night in her head, her memory stopping at Tai standing in front of her at the bar. "I don't remember," she said.

And he closed his eyes front of her, his face relaxing as he fell into a deep sleep, though not before showing a hint of a pained expression as he lowered his lids.

* * *

 _ **July 28, 20XX**_

Although the omurice made her feel better, the after-effects of the night before were still strong enough to keep her from doing anything or even from talking to anyone else the rest of the day. She waited until the next morning to talk to her friends.

She called Mimi first, who burst into tears the moment she picked up.

"Oh, Sora, I'm so glad you're alright!" she cried. "You really have to make sure you eat…"

"I know, I know…" Sora said, biting into an energy bar that Tai left with her the evening before. After he had gotten some sleep, he went to the store and picked up a box of them for her to keep before he headed home.

Sora relied on Mimi to provide her every detail of the night, and Mimi did not fail. She described everything from the moment the two of them left their group's table up until the time she and Tai left the limousine in front of her house.

"So you all got to talk to him…" Sora said with astonishment, remembering that not talking to them at all was part of her last moments of anger towards Tai.

"You know how I feel about him right now, Sora, it just gets me so riled up… But it's good to see he still has his moments, especially when it comes to you."

"I know… I know…" she said again.

"Oh- Sora, hey, I have to go. Let's grab some food together when we see each other next, maybe after the clinic?"

"Sure."

When she called Kari next, she sounded apologetic.

"I yelled at him, Sora," Kari said, ruefully. "I shouldn't have yelled at him that night. He started blaming himself for everything and I was really only talking about that night. I was worried about you, and I drank more than I should have and…"

"Don't blame yourself for something that was my fault," Sora said. "I worried you all, and it was unbecoming of me…"

T.K. wasn't too different from Kari, as he tried to console her for having a bad couple of days.

"It was a crazy night for all of us, Sora," he said. "Try not to be so hard on yourself."

Sora called Izzy after that, but he went straight to voicemail. Then she called Joe, and she felt nervous as soon as she heard the phone stop ringing and dead air from his side.

"Joe…I'm sorry…"

What came next was an eruption of scolding into her ear, so loud that she had to hold her phone away from her head.

After that, she dialed Matt's number, feeling extremely guilty from talking to Joe that she felt anxious about what Matt had to say next. She sighed in relief when Matt's phone went to voicemail, but then he called back a few moments later.

"Sorry I missed your call earlier, Sora. I just got off the phone with Mimi," he said. "How are you feeling?"

"Stupid, Matt," she told him. "I feel stupid, embarrassed, guilty…"

"Did Joe chew you out already?"

"Yes, he did…"

Matt chuckled. "Don't worry about getting that from me. We were all really worried about you, though. Especially Tai. He showed up without even knowing what was going on."

"I'm surprised you didn't give him a hard time…" Sora said, making Matt laugh again.

"Kari was already doing that, and Mimi nearly hit him. I almost felt sorry for him."

"Well, he had it coming for him, didn't he?" Sora asked.

"He did… And, so did you, Sora."

Sora paused, getting a little irritated.

"Matt, I already got an earful from Joe-"

"I know he was talking about you drinking on an empty stomach. I'm talking about the _reason_ you did it. You're always putting yourself last, and when things didn't work out the way you hoped them to, you punished yourself for it."

She listened to him, realizing her actions. Last night, it wasn't that she forgot to eat. She knowingly drank her cocktails, knowingly passed on any plate of food that was put in front of her. The more she thought about it, the worse she felt than she did after Joe's conversation.

"I know you care about Tai, a lot," Matt said. "In fact, I think it's more than that, you might even-"

"Don't. Don't say it." Sora interjected, fearfully. She knew what he was going to say, and she didn't want to hear it. It was something she didn't think she was ready to admit.

"You get what I mean," Matt continued. "But don't torture yourself over trying to get him to open up when he just wants to keep it locked away right now. All of us saw it in his face… he wasn't going to admit to anything. If he wants to stay away, let him go. Let him come to you. He'll come back in due time. Take it from me, who detached himself from the group once before."

Sora took all of Matt's words into account, realizing how alike he and Tai were becoming. "You rubbed off on him…" she said.

"Heh. I think I did."

They both laughed with each other, then talked a little more before they said their goodbyes.

It was around noon by the time Sora finished talking to Matt. Sora picked up her phone to call Tai, then stopped herself, remembering what Matt said.

Just then, her phone beeped, and she saw it was a message from Izzy.

" _Sorry I missed your call, Sora. I've been working on something really incredible, and I couldn't tear myself away from it. I'll tell you more about it next time I see you at dinner."_

She at least remembered well enough the point of the night when Izzy left. He was the only one who wasn't there—in a way, she was glad that at least one of the group didn't have to witness the unfolding drama from that night. Additionally, she was intrigued by what this _'something really incredible'_ was.

There was a knock on her front door. Sora walked out of her room and opened the door to see Tai standing there.

"Hey," she said, surprised. "You didn't say you were coming."

"I figured I'd take you out to lunch," he said, surprising her even more.

 _Let him come to you._

"…Where to?" she asked.

"Anywhere you want."

"O-Okay." Sora moved to the side of the doorway to put on her shoes before she grabbed her purse and headed out with him. "I'm leaving!" she called out to her mom before closing the door.

Soon they were down the steps and out of the building, walking in one direction.

"Have you figured out where you want to eat yet?" Tai asked as they held hands walking.

"Are we really walking without knowing where we're going?" Sora asked, making him grin.

"I did leave it up to you." Sora made a face at him.

"Baka."

She stopped in her tracks, remembering something. It was a memory of her being held by Tai, crying and repeating that word to him, but she couldn't remember why…

Tai turned around in front of her, noticing that she had stopped. "What's wrong?" he asked, and she blinked as the memory faded away.

"…Sushi," she said. "I want sushi."

"Ah, so we were going the right way after all."

They continued walking hand in hand, though Sora walked a few steps behind him. She wanted to repeat that word to him again, but she hesitated, thinking that more memories would surface and would make her worry. Shaking her head as though it would clear her thoughts away, she took a few steps forward to walk side-by-side with Tai.


	9. Chapter 9

**..CHASING THE SUN..**

 **.**

* * *

 ****Mild Sexual Content Ahead****

* * *

 **Into the Night - Part IX**

 _ **July 30, 20XX**_

Work was settling down at the clinic. There was still a constant stream of patients trickling in seeing urgent medical attention, although it was definitely not as hectic as it was a month and a half before.

Sora had front desk duty that morning, where she sat at the table set up in front of the gym keeping track of current patients and signing in new ones. She saw Mimi walked in for her shift and called her name as she walked by, to which Mimi waved and blew a kiss.

The moment Sora saw Joe approaching with his serious expression, she froze in her seat, not knowing whether to greet him with a smile or avoid eye contact. He stopped in front of her, and she took a deep breath, ready to apologize again.

"Here," he said, dropping a brown paper bag in front of her. She took a look inside to find a few meat buns, and judging by the warmth of the bag, she knew they were freshly made. She felt grateful toward him, and also still felt really guilty.

"Joe, if you're still upset about the other night—"

"I'm not, Sora," he said, standing before her at the edge of the table, now sighing and looking remorseful. "I shouldn't have yelled at you that way. I'm sorry."

Sora stood up from her chair. "No, _I'm_ sorry, Joe. You were in the right. I'm glad I have you to look out for me. I just have to remember to look out for myself, too." They smiled at each other in agreement.

"Don't push yourself, okay?" Joe said, patting her shoulder before her walked away. She watched him enter the gym doors to the clinic, smiling to herself as she remembered those same words she told him on her first day here.

After their shift at the clinic, Sora brought up the beach trip to Mimi while having lunch together at a café.

"So, I asked around," Mimi said, "and so far, we have Kari for sure, Matt, T.K., and Joe."

"What about Izzy?" Sora asked, and Mimi started to look confused.

"Izzy said he had plans."

" _Plans?_ Izzy?" Sora was just as confused as Mimi was.

"I know! His message said, _'I'm sorry I won't be able to make it, but I would really love to go someday!'"_

"Well, at least he's enthusiastic about it."

Mimi let out a groan of frustration. "This beach trip plan is starting to fall apart just like it has every year. Maybe it's best if we drop it and we can all just go on our own times. You still have the key I gave you, don't you?"

Sora thought back to the end of her second year of high school; the year Joe graduated. Mimi was so disappointed that no one could take the trip with her that year, that she ended up making copies of the beach house keys for Joe as a gift for graduation, as well as one for Sora, simply because she was her best friend.

"Don't talk like that, Mimi. We can still go. Did Izzy say anything else?"

"He also added, _'I'm also nearly finished with my project—The beach house would have been the perfect place to show everyone!'_ Geez, that's all he thinks about, isn't it?"

"Hmm." Sora sat back in her chair, thinking about the night before, when the Izumis were supposed to meet at her house for dinner again. Izzy didn't show, once again. She texted him and hadn't received anything back yet. She didn't want to believe it, but as she told Mimi about last night's dinner, she was starting to suspect that Izzy was hiding something from everyone.

"Do you think that Tai might know?" Mimi asked.

"Without a doubt," Sora replied. "Whether he'll tell me or not is a different story."

"Have you guys talked, by the way? About things between you two?"

"We haven't." Sora sighed, recounting the past week. Other than Tai treating her to sushi, she only talked to him through calls and messaging. He mentioned about having things to do, and Sora didn't feel like prying. Sora held back about the state of things between him and the others, and he still hasn't mentioned what happened that night when he took her home.

"He's acting more careful around you right now, especially after what happened," Mimi said, putting her hand on her chin as though she was analyzing the situation.

"That's right. He's still avoiding some things, but he's paying more attention to me than he usually has been. I just wish I knew where that was coming from…"

"Well, either way, he hasn't reached out to the rest of us since," said Mimi, now crossing her arms. "It's so annoying! Especially since I have to listen to Matt constantly ranting about it. It's only going to get worse now that we might be getting the same treatment from Izzy."

Sora sat up in her chair as a different thought crossed her mind. She remembered a message reply from Matt the day before, of him casually mentioning something that reminded him of Mimi. "You know… you and Matt have been mentioning each other a lot lately."

"Really?!" Mimi asked, shocked. Her face turned red, and then she looked away, turning her nose up as she continued crossing her arms. "Hmph. It's not my fault he's been calling me every day since his gig."

"Has he, now?" Sora smiled perceptively, resting her chin on her palm, her elbow against the table. "This makes me happy. You guys seem really good for each other."

"Oh, stop it, Sora!" Mimi was now covering her face, blushing furiously. "We're just talking right now!"

"Alright, alright." Sora giggled at Mimi's adorable reaction. They had always been friends, but Sora had always detected that something would spark between Matt and Mimi.

"But, seriously, Sora, I wish…" Mimi removed her hands from her face, breathing a deep sigh. "I wish Izzy would talk to us soon. And I wish Tai would talk to us too, and that he will tell you all that he needs to tell you."

"Yeah, me too."

"He's still invited to the beach house with us, regardless. Try talking to him again, when you get the chance. And also, maybe, tell him everything you're feeling about him right now."

* * *

 _ **July 31, 20XX**_

Sora received a cryptic voicemail from T.K. during the middle of the day. She missed the call while helping her mom chop vegetables for their lunch.

" _Sora, it's T.K. There's something I think you should know… Call me back."_

Wondering what T.K. meant, she called him back, but the call went to his voicemail. She left a message saying she would be home all day, so he could call her back anytime.

It must have been one of those days when no one was available to chat or talk to. She sent out messages to everyone else, including Tai, and everyone was either busy or unresponsive.

Not having anything better to do by evening, she decided to take a stroll through the park near her house—the one they all had their picnic in before. The caution tape was still there, though the debris was less apparent. She walked up to the closed off area, placing her hand on top of the pile of huge rocks stacked together.

Her mind jumped back to that very day, standing in the center of chaos as Digimon, good and evil fought against crumbling buildings.

 _Garudamon_ , Sora heard herself call out as her partner crashed backward into a pile of rubble. _I want to run to her, but I can't move…Fight…Fight them!_

But Garudamon only kept getting beaten down, and Sora watched in fear as she anticipated what was going to happen next.

 _Wake up, Sora…_ she begged herself, watching Garudamon about to receive the final blow.

 _WAKE UP!_

"Excuse me…"

Sora gasped, her eyes opened wide, as though she had woken up from a nightmare. Her heart was beating fast as she noticed her hand still pressed against the rock, except she now knelt on the ground with her head facing down. She looked to her other side, realizing that a concerned-looking woman was holding onto her shoulder. There was a little boy next to them, watching her fearfully.

"Are you alright?" the woman asked.

"I'm…I'm fine," said Sora, knowing how unconvincing it sounded. She stood up and let go of the rock, then she looked to the woman. "I'm okay. I'm sorry for worrying you. I'll be fine."

Hurriedly, Sora turned around and headed back toward her house, feeling herself shaking. She could feel herself panicking, and almost missed her phone vibrating from ringing in her bag.

"Hey, Tai," she said. Her attempt to smooth her voice over couldn't have fooled anyone.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "Did something happen?"

"It's nothing, really."

"Sora… I'm still at home. Izzy just left. Where are you?"

"I'm heading home, but…"

"I'll meet you there."

The call ended, and Sora continued walking, taking deep breaths to calm herself. _I shouldn't cry about this anymore_ , she thought to herself. _Biyomon's gone. They're all gone. We're all trying to live through it here, together._ The further away she was from the park, the calmer she became.

At least, she tried to convince herself to be.

Sora got home, and as soon as she took off her shoes there was a knock on the door. After she opened it and let Tai in, Sora found herself standing behind the front door, suddenly being held in his arms.

"What is it, Tai?" she asked softly.

"It hurts to see you like this," he said quietly. "I never know what to do, except hold you."

"I'm fine now, so don't worry." Sora closed her eyes and put her arms around his waist to hold him.

"You're not fine. And I always do. Especially when I'm the one hurting you."

"Tai…" At first, Sora thought she was still shaking, but as Tai held her, she realized it was him.

"I've been letting you down lately. I didn't look after you, and then you got yourself drunk…"

Sora opened her eyes. "I can look after myself, Tai, and that was my own lack of judgement. It was my fault."

"But why did you do it? Tell me it wasn't because you were mad at me…"

Tai pulled himself away to look at Sora, and she saw the anguish in his eyes. She couldn't say that she wasn't…

"I knew it. You were." Tai let go of her and turned around.

"Come on, Tai…"

"It's all my fault. I let you down. I let _everyone_ down. I wasn't there for anyone. Not even you. Everything leading to that day and after… My stupid decisions…"

Sora's eyes widened in shock. He was blaming himself, _after all this time_?

"Tai… That day… It wasn't your fault…"

She remembered Tai's tenacity back then. Their Digimon partners were exhausted from already fighting, but judging by the flashing points on Izzy's laptop, they knew the fight was only about to get worse. Matt, Izzy, Mimi, and Kari were worried about being outnumbered this time around, and that they might not be strong enough. She remembered the look in Tai's eyes, strong with that resolve to fight. He insisted their Digimon had the willpower to keep fighting, to help protect them and their home.

She remembered being in tears as she stood between Matt and Tai, pushing them away from each other to stop them from throwing punches at each other. She couldn't see how stopping their monster friends from this battle would help this situation at all. Their city was about to fall, and it had to be all of the Digidestined to help keep it from falling.

And then, she remembered standing at her front door with Tai and Agumon when he walked her and Biyomon home, telling him she was afraid of how tomorrow would end. He didn't say a word when they parted…

Just as he didn't say a word now. Sora reached for his shoulder with his back still turned to her.

"No one blames you, Tai," she said. "Even everyone who disagreed at first. We all ended up following your lead, remember?"

"But if it wasn't for my lead…"

Sora went in front of him to face him, finding his face and holding so their eyes could meet, her gaze steadfast. "I believed in the plan as much as you did. We knew what we were getting into, yet we still went into it, even Biyomon and the others did, and I'm sure Agumon…"

Tai winced at the name, and he looked away from her when she said it. She stared at him, waiting for tears to fall from his eyes, but only feeling streams of her own.

"Dammit, Tai…" she whispered, the streams falling faster.

"Sora…" Tai looked at her, as though realizing something, then pulled her close to him. "Don't do this. I'm still hurting you in this way. You don't have to do this. You don't have to cry for me."

Sora opened her eyes. How did he know? How did he figure that out?

"I'm going to fix this," he continued, still holding her. "I can't keep causing trouble for you, or for anyone else."

"Fix this…?" Sora looked up at him, puzzled and tear-stricken. He gave her a sad smile and wiped her tears away with his hands.

"I've been hurting you, and even our friends. But, I promise you, I will find a way to fix everything."

He was being more cryptic than T.K. was earlier, but then she realized what was happening by the look in his eyes.

"Come back to me, Tai," she said. She went up close to him again and cupped her hands on his cheeks as he looked back with his faraway gaze. She remembered her last conversation with Mimi about telling him how she felt. "You say it hurts to see me this way, but, you're far away again… Come back and tell me how you feel. I hate seeing you like this…"

Tai took her hands and gently pulled them down from his face, looking into her eyes as though searching for something. Then, he turned away from her, again. "You've said this before."

"Well, excuse me for repeating myself!" Sora was getting frustrated with him again. She couldn't remember anything he was mentioning. Just when he was starting to open up a tiny bit, he seemed to be pulling away even faster. Her eyes were still watering, but she was trying really hard not to cry anymore. "You're not making any sense! I'm trying so hard— _so damn hard_ to help you through this! Why can't you just tell me?!"

Once again, she took deep breaths to calm herself down, feeling her heart beating fast from getting angry. He was still turned away from her, saying nothing. Walking over to face him, she looked up at him with sadness. "Why can't you just tell me…instead of hurting me?" she asked, in a quieter, more imploring tone. "Can't we fix this together?"

She kissed him long and hard, watching his face anxiously. His expression never changed, even as she pulled away.

"I'm sorry," he said, shaking his head. "I have to do this on my own."

Sora's heart sank as he turned from her and walked toward the door. She looked on with defeat as he opened the door and closed it behind him, not turning back once.

Where the hell was he going now?

"Baka," she whispered, angrily. A memory then flashed into her mind, that same one from that night when she was crying to him. She scoffed and shut the memory quickly from her head. Let him leave, just like Matt said, right?

 _Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry_ , she stammered to herself, feeling the sting of her tears as she turned to walk to her bedroom.

But before she stepped into it, the front door opened, with Tai standing before her once again, this time, running to her and catching her off guard with a kiss.

 _All he does is cause me trouble_ , Sora thought as she broke off the kiss, looking into his eyes as he stared back into hers. Was he still in some far-off place? Was he back with her now? Her eyes blurred with tears that she no longer held back as she stopped caring anymore. She brought herself closer to him for another kiss, blasting away her thoughts of confusion, frustration, and worry from her mind.

Tears streamed harder down her cheeks as they kissed while she led him into her room, with her kicking the door closed behind them. As their clothes fell from their bodies, all she sensed was that he had finally reached his breaking point and he had no idea whether he should stay or run away.

He was staying with her now, of course, and she let him kiss her tears away, then move his lips to her neck, then her chest, as he tenderly moved his way down. She yearned for his taste as she let her hands run free against his skin, unconsciously letting out a moan as he found her weak spot.

 _I'm supposed to be angry with him…this always happens…_

Her own desires clouded her thoughts as she wrapped her arms around his neck and fell in bed over him. His lips press against hers intensely, both of them catching their breaths between kisses, as he held her body closer to his.

 _He doesn't want to leave me, yet…_

It was what she could tell by the way his lips moved, the way he held her so tightly. With her knees bent on either side of his body, she thrust herself against him, fervently kissing him back, as though she was answering him back, pleading him to stay.


	10. Chapter 10

**..CHASING THE SUN..**

 **.**

 **Into the Night - Part X**

 _ **One year ago, May**_

 _It was after school. Doors flew open, and students started filtering out of the classrooms, heading towards the school gate._

 _As soon as the end of school bell rang, Tai threw his notebook and supplies into his backpack and rushed through the door, passing his startled classmates._

" _Sorry!" he called from behind, walking hurriedly through the hall. He zigzagged through, barely running into students walking leisurely opposite his direction. He had been trying to talk to Sora all day, but she had been avoiding him. He had to get to the student council room now, the only place he knew Sora would be after school._

 _As he reached the staircase to head down, he saw that Matt was leaning against the wall there, quiet but nodding at others he knew as they passed by. His head turned to Tai as he approached._

" _You upset her again, didn't you?" Matt asked without warning, and Tai stopped, looking at him with surprise._

" _How did you know?" he asked back._

" _She hardly talked to me in class today, and she seemed down about something. I just made the assumption. Hey, when did you start wearing gl-"_

 _But Tai groaned and was already headed down the stairs. Now wasn't the time to start an argument with Matt. When he reached the ground floor, he eyed the student council room and started to walk quickly towards it. Only then was he stopped by Izzy who appeared so suddenly that he stepped back so fast he nearly fell backward._

" _Tai!" Izzy said. "I need your help on something, can you come by my house later this week? It's about that 'code'…"_

" _S-sure thing, Izzy," Tai said, straightening himself up from being surprised. He knew Izzy was referring to the code he was trying to solve on his laptop. Even at this point, Izzy didn't know what answers it would give them, but Tai hoped solving its puzzle would take them back to the Digital World._

 _It wasn't something Tai could wonder about now. Knowing he was a few steps away from his intended destination, he put his hands on Izzy's shoulders. "I gotta go, but don't worry, Izzy. I'll help you as much as I can. We can put our heads together on it and figure it out."_

 _Izzy beamed as Tai started towards that room. "Prodigious! You're the best!" he said, and then: "You're not going to the student council room, are you?"_

" _That's where I'm going," said Tai, already walking away, reaching for the door handle._

" _Oh…H-hey Tai! I wouldn't go in there if I were you—"_

 _Tai had already turned the door handle, which he discovered was locked. Peering through the narrow door window, he saw Sora sitting at the large table in the center of the room with her notebook in front of her and a textbook next to it. Mimi sat across the table from her, and they both looked up towards the door when they heard his attempt to go in. Scoffing, Mimi glared at him through the window, got up from her chair and walked towards the door. She had a look to kill, and Tai gulped, stepping back a little with hesitation._

 _Mimi opened the door and glared at him, though her expression changed into confusion upon staring at his face up close. Tai wondered if she was looking at the red mark on his cheek—the one Sora left on him earlier that morning in anger—and immediately put his hand over it._

" _I want to talk to her," Tai said, and Mimi was glaring again._

" _Miss President doesn't want to talk to you," she said. "Not after what you did."_

" _I want to explain myself. Please, Mimi." Tai tried looking over Mimi's head to see Sora, but Mimi moved to block him._

" _I can't believe you had the nerve! After all this time you've known each other-"_

" _Come on, Mimi, let me in."_

" _No!"_

 _Tai lowered his head with a sigh._

" _Fine," he said, and then he sat himself onto the tiled floor in the middle of the hallway. Students passing by turned their heads toward him, some passing by in confusion._

" _What is it?" Mimi asked then, as she turned away from Tai at the door. "Are you sure?" she murmured. Then she turned to Tai, still glaring at him, but she opened the door wider._

" _Just because it's you…" Mimi said then. Tai got up quickly, finally entering the room. Mimi left, closing the door behind her, leaving Tai standing at the door, watching Sora who was still sitting, focusing on writing in her notebook._

" _You're wearing your glasses," said Sora, without looking up. Tai realized then why Mimi was giving him a strange look. He had only worn his pair whenever he studied at home or in class, and he was in such a hurry earlier that he had forgotten to remove them. Quickly, he tucked them away, but he still noticed that Sora was still ignoring him._

" _Sora, I… about this morning, at the front of school…" Tai began, taking a few steps closer to the table. "I'm sorry I laughed at you."_

 _He watched and waited cautiously for her reaction, but she remained unphased. He set his backpack on a chair. He had to keep talking._

" _You told me how you felt, and I laughed at you. You probably think I'm a jerk, and you're right. I feel terrible…"_

" _I shouldn't have told you," she said, still writing. "I should have left things the way they've always been. I feel like an idiot now."_

" _No, I'm the idiot, Sora…" He was now standing at the edge of the table, adjacent to where she sat. He noticed then then the pounding in his chest, and he took a deep breath. "I laughed because I didn't think you were serious, at first. I…I never thought someone like you would ever feel the same way about some fool like me."_

 _Sora stopped writing. The pen in her hand stopped moving as though she was suddenly frozen in place._

" _I mean, we've always been friends, and you watched me date around, and I did the same for you. The thought of being with you crossed my mind a few times, but…"_

" _But, what…?" Sora asked in a small voice._

" _Well… Maybe you've noticed that I was the one ending the relationship all the time."_

" _All five of them since we started high school."_

 _Sora's eyes were still down on the page in front of her, but it always amazing him how attentive she was to him, especially now that he knew…_

" _And I never liked seeing your heart get broken, Sora. I didn't want to be the one to do it."_

 _She stayed quiet as he anxiously waited for her to speak. Then, let out a laugh, but still not looking back at him. "And here I thought you were supposed to be all about courage."_

 _Tai laughed back at that. As he sat down adjacent to her, he reached for her hand nervously, and she flinched, dropping the pencil on the table. Fighting off the hesitation, he tried reaching for it again, and this time, she let him hold it._

 _And then her eyes met his, and he suddenly felt like he was in a dream. He and Sora had become close friends over the years, and pushing his feelings aside, he knew for sure that he wanted her to be in his life after high school, he just didn't think about how so until she confessed. Before then, he was all-star captain of the soccer team, dating other girls throughout high school, with Sora showing up all that time, enough to instill her importance to him in his mind. As he sat there mesmerized, he started to embrace her importance more._

 _Sora looked at him as though he were hopeless. "A simple 'I like you, too,' would have sufficed," she said, her cheeks reddening with embarrassment._

" _Well…" Tai smiled sheepishly, feeling his face hot as he scratched the back of his head. "I can be a little bit dramatic." Sora let out a small giggle, but then it turned into a long, sing-songy laugh._

" _I've known you long enough." She kept on laughing so sincerely, that he couldn't help but laugh along with her._

" _Tell me, Sora," Tai said, squeezing her hand gently once the laughter died down. "How long have you felt this way?"_

" _Oh…well…" Sora looked away, as though trying to hide her already apparent embarrassment. "Do you remember when you told those boys off after they taunted me because I was a girl playing soccer?"_

 _Tai's eyes widened in disbelief as he thought back to that time. "But that was back in middle school."_

" _Yeah…" Sora pulled her hand away from his. "Yeah, it was."_

Impossible, _he thought to himself. He only did what he thought was right back then. Sora had incredible skills playing with him and their school mates, that she could have beaten anyone in a one-on-one match, including him._

" _Maybe I'm the idiot for not telling you sooner," she said, standing up and now laughing to herself. "Maybe I just didn't want to admit it after all that time. I watched you lead all of us in the Digital World when we were trying to find our way, and how you were with everyone, and with me. Even Biyomon noticed something was up and teased me when no one else was around, but I kept denying it."_

" _Sora…" said Tai, not knowing what else to say._

" _Then high school started, and we started diverging into our own different worlds, you with soccer and me with the student council. You always went out of your way for me, even when it seemed like you had so much on your plate. You mean a lot to me."_

" _And you mean a lot to me," said Tai, standing up._

" _And then when you were dating other girls…" Sora was now trembling. "I tried to convince myself that I would be happy for you as long as you were happy. But I found myself relieved every time you told me you had broken up with them."_

 _Sora paused as she shed a tear._

" _Now here we are nearing the end of senior year, and we'll all be going our separate ways… Tai… I couldn't handle the thought of us leaving each other without telling you how I felt…"_

 _His heart heavy with emotions, Tai ran to her and pulled her into an embrace, holding her close. He remembered all those times he comforted her, whether it was because of stressing over being president, worrying about an upcoming exam, or even being dumped by her last boyfriend. He had no clue how much she cared about him in this way, how blind he was not to realize it this whole time…_

" _I'm sorry for laughing at you, Sora," he said gently, hearing her sniffle. "I like you. I've liked you for so long, maybe for as long as you've liked me. We could both be idiots for holding out this long."_

" _I'm fine with that," she said, muffled through his shirt._

" _I didn't mean to hurt you. You can slap me whenever I do anything wrong, though."_

 _Sora laughed when she looked up at him, seeing the mark she on his cheek after she slapped him this morning. "Baka," she said as she put cupped her hand over it, looking at it with some regret. He smiled and put his hand over hers._

 _They met eyes again, this time closer than before, and Tai felt his heart skip a beat. His stare fell onto her lips looking soft and smooth. His heart beat faster as a new idea of kissing her entered his thoughts…_

 _But the thought fluttered away as she caressed his cheek, then rested her head on his white-collared shirt over his chest._

 _Still, holding her like this as she had her arms around his waist—it couldn't have felt more right._

" _So," he said, unwrapping his arms and pulling away to look at her face as she looked up at him with her eyes twinkling. "I guess we're really doing this, huh?"_

 _Sora smiled cheerfully, and he felt his heart swelling. "I guess we are."_

" _We'll have to tell the others…" Tai trailed off as he heard a loud sniffle. He and Sora turned toward the door, seeing three pairs of eyes looking through the door's window; Izzy looked on absorbedly, Matt had a knowing look in his stare, and Mimi watched them with watery eyes._

 _Tai glanced at Sora, exchanging smiles. Then Sora looked over to her notebook and textbook and closed them, preparing to carry them out. He didn't stop thinking about what she said about the end of senior year._

" _Sora," said Tai, and she stopped and looked at him._

" _Hmm?"_

" _I won't leave you. Not now, not ever."_

 _He saw Sora blush again as he took her notebook and textbook to carry for her, and together they left the student council room to meet their friends outside._


	11. Chapter 11: THROUGH THE CLOUDS

**..CHASING THE SUN..**

 **.**

* * *

 **..THROUGH THE CLOUDS..  
(11-17)**  
 _The wisps of white are enough to cover him, not enough for her to grasp_

Tai goes missing, but not without tracks for Sora to follow. He tries to follow through with his plan on his own, but not without a few surprises along the way.

* * *

 **Through the Clouds - Part I**

 _ **August 1, 20XX (early morning)**_

Sunlight peeked through the blinds in Sora's room, but Tai had been awake for hours. Tai lay on his side opposite Sora, who was facing him, sound asleep. He thought back to the night before, when they lay just as they did now, though both of them still unclothed, and awake. No talking arose between them, no tears—just tranquil silence as they stared into each other's eyes. Neither of them wanted to say anything more, knowing that nothing could be said to change either of their minds.

"We should rest," he said softly, breaking the silence. He had noticed her eyelids were drifting.

"You're still wide awake," she said, trying to keep her eyes open.

"I'll manage."

Sighing, Sora got up to get some clothes to wear to bed, and Tai had only put on his boxers. When she came back to lay next to him, she was wearing shorts and one of his T-shirts that looked two sizes bigger on her.

He couldn't help but pull her into his arms and hold her tight, like a boy to his teddy bear. It wasn't part of his plan to stay the night. He could have just walked out of her house and went straight home. But, this was Sora he was talking about. Even with his mind set at this point on doing things all on his own, Sora's voice, her persistence to get through to him somehow cracked through his walls. He couldn't resist her.

Then, there was that kiss… There was no way he could've left things the way they were.

Tai had fallen asleep holding her, though only to wake up a few hours later and staying awake until now. Even with Sora at his side, his mind was in disarray and his thoughts racing nonstop about the plan he was setting out to do.

As he lay flat on his back, with his hands resting behind his head as he gazed at the ceiling, he thought back to the day that he and his friends were carried into that military caravan to escape. He remembered as the caravan left the scene, as he was left full of torture and regret.

But, there was another part of it that he couldn't let go of… the part where he turned to look back at the scene they were escaping from; the air was fogged with dust and smoke, and he couldn't make out what was going on in the middle of it all.

 _What happened when the dust cleared?_

The question remained entangled in his thoughts, which he was encouraged would be answered soon enough, thanks to Izzy. What if… what if Agumon was still alive?

 _Agumon…_ Tai was longing to see his dear friend again; the idea always seemed unattainable, but after Izzy's recent discovery, Tai had his heart set on one thing:

He was going to the Digital World, alone. And he was heading out today to do it.

Tai turned to face Sora again. He had given up on going back to sleep, and although he couldn't fall asleep if he tried, watching her still brought him a sense of calm. Gently, he took his hand to wipe away strands of hair from her eyes, so he could see her face. Her lips formed into an unconscious smile as he did that.

"Tai…" she said with a soft exhale.

He felt a tight grip in his chest. Even after keeping his own strife to himself, all it did was cause her heartache. Breaking her heart…

He had been doing just as he feared to her. And, not knowing the outcome of his plan, he worried it would break her even more. He hoped to tell her everything in the end—that is, if she still even wanted to be with him. His plan was already set in motion, and it killed him knowing that it would be without her.

Slowly and quietly he rose out of the bed, not wanting to wake Sora. He picked up and put back on the rest of his clothes he wore from last night, which were scattered on the floor along with hers. Moving toward her desk, he quietly shuffled through the drawers until he found a pen and paper to write on. It was then he noticed a large stuffed animal lying face down on the floor. It was that of a pink tropical bird, which he won a festival game last year and surprised her with it. Without question, she named it "B".

 _Watch over her_ , he thought to himself as he set the bird upright against the wall. As he thought about what to write, he reminisced those times she kept holding on and sticking by him, even when he pushed her away… the day in senior year when she confessed her feelings to him, to the night she revealed she loved him. Then, taking the note and folding it neatly, he walked over to the bed and wedged it into her hand. Looking at her once more, he bent over and kissed Sora's forehead, unbeknownst to her.

"I love you," was all he could whisper. He felt guilty as he said it, without her knowing they both ever said it to each other. Quietly, with his heart still tight in his chest, he left her room, put his shoes on, and exited her house.

* * *

Tai felt as though luck was on his side that morning. Kari and Mrs. Kamiya were both fast asleep when he arrived home to pack up his things. He grabbed a backpack and threw in a few shirts, shorts, and jeans, and he made sure his digivice was still in his pocket.

Before leaving his room, he made sure to grab Izzy's backpack, which Izzy had left from when he visited the day before. Not once did Izzy ever leave it there with Tai, but they had recently made some discoveries that Izzy thought it would be best to keep it in one place. Luckily for Tai, it included all the important items to carry out his plan—the laptop, the scanners, the key—and he was going to bring it all with him.

Tai's plan… it was all going too well.

He peeked into Mrs. Kamiya's room, and then Kari's; they were both still sound asleep. He crept out of the house quietly, but as he reached the front gate, he realized his seemingly perfect plan of going alone was about to take a slight turn.

Matt stood at the front gate with his arms crossed, along with Izzy who was nervously hiding behind him, but looking on with a worried expression. Izzy was carrying a duffel bag, and Matt had his bag over his shoulder. Tai stared them both down, then, realizing that the steps he happened to be taking were more than just the stars aligning, he sighed and set Izzy's bag on the ground.

"You figured me out, didn't you, Izzy?" Tai asked.

"I left my backpack here, knowing full well that you would pull something as incredulous as this," Izzy explained, stepping out from behind Matt. "I planted it, and I didn't know how else to confront you about it. And when I brought it up to Matt, well, he just connected the dots, and-"

"And we can't let you do this alone, Tai," Matt interjected. "Izzy said it was going to be a safe passage through, but who knows what danger you might run into when you're there."

"I'm doing this because I have to," Tai said through gritted teeth. "We still don't know why they attacked that day. And we don't know what happened to our friends afterward."

"But Tai, they-"

Izzy put his hand up to stop Matt.

"We don't know that for sure," Izzy said.

Matt looked at Izzy, then at Tai in disbelief. "You guys really think…"

Tai went on. "Whatever you want to say won't change my mind. I'm still going whether you agree with me or not." Matt dropped his hands to his sides, stepping forward toward Tai.

"Whether I agree or not doesn't matter. You're going about this the wrong way. You've kept yourself away from us all summer, but you can't just keep us away from this. You should've at least talked to everyone first, Tai, before making a decision that could affect all of us in the end."

He remembered the moments after the attack, seeing his friends devastated because of him. Even remembering the night outside the bar, when his friends were hostile and sullen towards him after all that went down. It frustrated him, not being able to formulate words to explain. He was doing this for all of them.

Picking up Izzy's backpack, Tai swung it over his shoulder. "You wouldn't understand," he said to Matt, walking past him. "No one else would. This is my burden to bear." Matt immediately narrowed his eyes.

"Cut it out with the 'lone wolf' bullshit!" Matt raised his voice suddenly. "You weren't the only one there that day—we _all_ were. We all would give _anything_ to have our friends back. This is not something you should do by yourself."

If it wasn't Sora trying to argue against him, it was Matt trying to do the same thing after her, except Matt made him more agitated. This happened between the three of them in high school, too, and whenever it did, it took a while for Tai to admit to himself they've been right all along.

Tai looked down on the ground, angry with his fists clenched, but knowing that he was not going to win the argument against Matt this time.

"Look, I want Gabumon back just as much as you want to see Agumon again," Matt continued. "And Izzy wouldn't deny the same for Tentomon. Honestly, I don't think we'll get what we want, after what we witnessed back then… but, I'm ready to face whatever outcome."

Tai turned to Matt, who looked determined to join him. Then he looked to Izzy, who nodded at him. Izzy wasn't going to fight against anyone, and Tai figured he would lose too much energy trying to fight against Matt. They both already had bags on them, as though they were ready to alter his plan from the beginning.

"I already explained to you the mechanics of the programs and encoding in my laptop, but I highly doubt you would figure how to even use it without my help," said Izzy, approaching Tai. "Besides, I don't want you breaking anything."

"Fine," Tai said, resigned as he reluctantly returned Izzy's backpack to him. "Let's get going."

They started towards the bus station. It would take hours, if not the whole day, to get to their destination, with all the trains and bus transfers and walking they were going to encounter. As they walked, Tai turned to Matt and Izzy who were following behind him in silence.

"You haven't told anyone else about this, have you?" Tai asked them. Matt only stared back, and Izzy looked around hesitantly, before eventually shaking their heads in response.

"And you, Tai?" Matt asked.

"No one."

Tai turned around to look ahead, and as he ignored the pain in his heart, continued on walking.

* * *

" _I love you."_

Sora felt she was dreaming when she heard it. She had dreamt that she was laying on the soft, pillowy grass with Tai facing her, surrounded by tall trees where birds chirped happily above, and a stream she heard with the water rushing down in a place so serene. She smiled as Tai tucked her hair behind her ear, although he shined so brightly that he could have been the sun himself. She kept her eyes closed then, feeling the warmth of his kiss on her hair, and heard his voice whisper those three words she had been waiting to hear, making her heart flutter.

Suddenly, the birds stopped chirping, the water stopped running, and it was silent around her. Without opening her eyes, Sora knew she was laying in her bed. She held out her arm, expecting to reach for Tai, only for her hand to end up on the blanket. She opened her eyes to find herself alone, and then a folded piece of paper enclosed in her hand.

 _Where did he go?_

The calm, joyous feeling disappeared, and Sora now felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.

There was a beep. Sora didn't realize until then that she hadn't looked at her phone since seeing Tai yesterday. Sitting up and setting the note aside, she picked up her phone to see a few missed calls from T.K.

She was about to dial him, when the screen lit up to show that Kari was calling her. As soon as Sora picked up, she immediately sensed that something was wrong.

"Is Tai with you?" Kari asked, sounding worried.

"No, not right now," Sora said, turning to look at the folded note. "He stayed the night, but…"

"I'm in his room, the drawers are open, his backpack's gone…" There was a wavering in Kari's voice.

"What's wrong…?"

"He left the house again, but it feels different this time…"

"Hang on, Kari."

Feeling the nagging feeling in her chest, Sora reached for the note now sitting atop her bedsheet and unfolded it.

" _I need to fix this, for everyone, for you… for me. When I come back, I will tell you everything. I promise."_

So, he made up his mind to leave. He didn't want her help, or for her to be involved. She had known this was going to happen. With her eyes dry, she held the piece of paper in her hand and crumpled it as she closed her fingers on it tightly.

Sora just felt empty. And furious.

"What's wrong, Sora?" Kari asked, noticing the long silence from Sora's end, and Sora felt herself numb as she heard herself confirm with the sound of her voice:

"He's gone," she told Kari, and silence fell between them for what seemed like forever. Was Kari at a loss for words, too? Was she crying? No, there were no sounds of sniffling. Was she angry, too…?

"Kari…?" Sora said.

"T.K. was right… I'm coming over, Sora."

"Kari, you don't ha-"

Kari hung up before Sora finished her sentence.

Sora hopped out of her bed to make it, straightening the pillows against the headboard, feeling a wave of sadness as she fixed the pillow where Tai had fallen asleep the night before.

" _I won't leave you. Not now, not ever."_

"Always so dramatic," she said aloud to the pillow, thinking back to the day they confessed to each other, and then to the night before, as she lay with him, enclosed comfortably in his arms. She was too exhausted to try to watch him fall asleep, but she made up her mind as her lids grew heavier, not to cry if she woke up alone.

Somehow, the pink stuffed bird that was against her wall had fallen over, and she picked it up to straighten it.

"B…" she said, her heart filling with emotion, but still didn't feel like crying. Instead, simply from intuition, she picked it up and hugged it tightly before placing it back.

* * *

 **Author notes:** Just adding this here to thank you for reading! I've been posting a new chapter 1-2x a week and I expect to keep it that way until the end. I figured I'd add notes just like I do on AO3, so here's one for this chapter:

The first two scenes of this chapter are the heart and soul of this fic - it was the first thing written out and inspired me to flesh out the rest of the story.


	12. Chapter 12

**..CHASING THE SUN..**

 **.**

 **Through the Clouds - Part II**

 _ **August 1, 20XX (mid-morning)**_

When Sora's mom announced that her friends were at the door, Sora had just finished eating an energy bar. She was too focused on her thoughts about Tai and her friends to feel hungry, but she knew better than to ignore her hunger like she usually did.

She went out of her room to see both Kari and T.K. taking off their shoes, both of them melancholy. She rushed over and hugged Kari first, though she noticed Kari's hug was especially tighter than hers.

"Don't worry, Sora," Kari said, "I know you're going to ask if I'm okay. I will be. I'm more worried about you."

"So am I," said T.K., who hugged Sora next. "Kari told me what happened."

"I'll be fine, too," said Sora, sighing. "I promise." T.K. took both of her hands, frowning. Sora knew he could see it in the pained expression she was trying to hide.

"I was trying to call you yesterday, Sora. I even tried stopping by here yesterday. Your mom said you were out."

 _It must have been before Tai came over…_

"I'm really sorry I missed you, T.K." said Sora, squeezing his hands as she tried to ignore the thought of last night weighing heavily on her mind. "A lot happened yesterday."

"I've already told Kari, but a lot happened the night before, too," said T.K. as three of them walked over to sit on Sora's couch together. "After Matt's rehearsal. Izzy showed up to talk to him, and Matt ended up getting really upset." Sora looked at him, shocked. This was the night Izzy didn't show up to dinner.

"And Matt never gets upset at Izzy," Kari said.

"I was surprised, too," T.K. said. "I've seen my brother get mad at Tai, and everyone else—including me. But never at Izzy."

"What would Izzy do to make Matt react in such a way?" Sora thought aloud.

"Well, I didn't hear it all," said T.K. "I was inside the house and they were alone in the garage where Matt and his band had been practicing. They were talking in low voices at first, but then Matt started yelling at him, and Izzy started to panic and tried to get him to calm down."

"You said you heard Matt mention _him_ , right?" Kari asked. "My brother?"

Sora continued watching T.K. with utmost curiosity.

"He said, _'I don't care if this is about Tai!'_ and then started shouting about our Digimon… but that's when I stepped in and told him to stop. I hadn't seen my brother that angry in a while."

"Did Izzy say anything else?" Sora asked.

"Matt told me to go inside, and that _'Izzy was just leaving.'_ But when I walked away, I heard Izzy say, _'I just wish it was all of us, together, like it always was before…'_ "

Sora's throat tightened as she heard the words in her head with Izzy's voice. Regardless of how distant he's been lately, she knew he missed being with everyone in the whole group, including with Tai. Perhaps his confrontation with Matt was his way of trying to bring everyone together, in such a way that she didn't know how.

But, what was it that he was trying to do? And, why was Tai a part of their conversation?

"We haven't heard from Izzy today, either, right?" Kari asked, making Sora remember that she had sent out messages to everyone to check on them before T.K. and Kari arrived. Checking her phone, Joe and Mimi were the only other two who had sent replies back to her.

"Matt hasn't sent me anything at all since last night," added T.K.

Sora had planned to visit Matt next, and then Izzy, just to check on them, and perhaps ask them about their sides of T.K.'s story. Something to keep last night from her mind.

"The three of us should go together," she told T.K. and Kari, and she knew they would say yes, knowing they tended to follow Sora if she asked them to.

As they headed out, T.K. looked at Sora, looking curious but tentative.

"What is it, T.K.?" she asked.

"Well…Have you tried contacting Tai at all? Since this morning?"

Sora stood in front of them, back towards them so they couldn't see her frown. She raised her head up from looking down on the ground to looking up at the sky lit up by the sun overhead. She already knew he wasn't going to respond, even if she tried and agonized in waiting for him. Now, she was only trying to suppress all thoughts of him from her mind.

"There's no point in trying right now," she said, taking a deep breath. "He's trying to resolve something, or maybe he's just finding his resolve… And, well, he left without saying where he was going. It's something he needs to figure out on his own, so I'm just going to have to let him."

It wasn't what Sora wanted to do. She really did want to talk to him, to tell him that losing their Digimon wasn't his fault, no matter how many times she had to repeat herself. But, since she couldn't do that, she wanted to lay in bed under the covers to hide from the rest of the world, hoping the pain would go away on its own.

She also knew the pain wouldn't go away until she figured out exactly what Tai was refraining from her and everyone else. She wanted to track him down—no matter how long it took—and catch him with whatever he had up his sleeve, then prove to him that he can't do it all on his own.

Above all, she wanted to do something about the sheer frustration he left her with; however, she saw no point of doing any of that, for they would accomplish nothing but more grief. Sora led Kari and T.K. out the door, all of them walking in silence. Being with her friends and watching over them was what she could only do now, for their benefit, and for hers, too.

By the afternoon, Sora, T.K., and Kari had stopped by Matt's place and Izzy's family tent at the stadium. They heard from Matt and T.K's dad that Matt would be out with a friend for a while. None of the Izumis were at their tent at the time they visited.

"Sora," said T.K. in a hush, suddenly, tugging at her elbow as they left the stadium.

"Hmm?" she said.

"I think—I think someone's watching us."

"… _What?_ " Sora huddled with him and Kari.

"I feel it, too," Kari whispered.

"You two, stay close to me," said Sora, and they continued walking, Sora staying composed, but darting glances from the corners of her eyes as they moved through other passersby.

"Sora!" a voice said suddenly, making her jump and hold her chest. Mimi appeared in front of them from the backseat of her car with the window rolled down.

"Mimi! You came!" said Sora, and the door flew open in front of them as Mimi got out of the car to give Sora a big hug.

"I wanted to be here as soon as you told me," said Mimi, who then looked upset. "Oh, Sora, I can't believe Tai—he is so going to get it next time I see him! I can't _believe_ he would do this to any of us—to _you!_ "

"I'm fine, Meems," said Sora, frowning, and Mimi cupped her hands on Sora's cheeks and frowned back.

"Not with that face… Boys are so irritating!"

Then Mimi let go of Sora and continued in a huff. "Don't even get me started on Matt, either! He was supposed to take me out somewhere today, but he cancelled last minute last night—"

"Wait," Sora said, looking at her quizzically. "You didn't see Matt at all today?" Mimi stopped, looking with an expression just as confused.

"No, not at all. Why do you ask?"

Sora exchanged glances with T.K. and Kari, realizing that the "friend" his dad was talking about wasn't Mimi, after all.

"Where could he have gone, then?" Kari wondered.

"I just got a message from one of Matt's bandmates," said T.K. "He told them the same thing, that he was going to be out for the next practice."

The pile of puzzle pieces in Sora's head was starting to get bigger.

Now having Mimi with the group, the four of them stopped by Joe's house, where they updated him with their current findings as they sat around his dining table.

"Hmm," said Joe, pushing his glasses toward his face and then rubbing his chin. "I haven't heard from Tai or Matt, but I did talk to Izzy the day before yesterday."

Sora and the others looked to him, surprised.

"He talked to you?" Sora asked, thinking about the missed dinners and the lack of responses from Izzy.

"He was talking about how stressful it was at the stadium, and he couldn't focus on his work surrounded by all those people. Then, he mentioned that maybe getting out of the city would help him concentrate."

"Out of the city?" Mimi asked, wondering. "By himself?"

"He was being really strange about it," Joe said. "He started mentioning all of us, that maybe we all needed to get away from the noise of the inner city, and the, well, events that transpired here…"

Everyone traded looks before Joe continued.

"He even talked about my studying and that escaping from this place could help clear my head. It was as though he was wanting all of us to get out of here for a while, but he wasn't sure how to ask us. Or maybe, something was holding him back from asking."

Sora ran that through her brain, attempting to decipher Izzy's words and actions. Another instance where Izzy wanted the group to be together. Where he mentioned the Digimon. And then, there was his 'work'. Could it have been that project he mentioned to her from the last message he sent her? This _'something really incredible'_ …? The details for Izzy weren't as vague as they were for Tai, but it still kept her wondering just what Izzy had been up to…

Joe interrupted her train of thought as he touched her shoulder and put a plate of sandwiches in front of her.

"Thank you," she said, sharing a smile with him, getting a sandwich from the plate and taking a bite. She kept her thoughts to herself as everyone quietly ate their own. It was when she looked at T.K. that the cogs in her brain started clinking.

"Izzy stopped talking to me when he started hanging out with Tai," said Sora. "And, of course, Tai never talked about you guys to me, but even the conversation of Izzy hadn't come up once since then."

"Tai and Izzy have been hanging out with each other a lot," added Kari. "Izzy was over at our house yesterday, too. I saw him before I left, but they kept to themselves while I was there…"

"Then there was the argument the day before last between Matt and Izzy," said T.K.

"Matt cancelled on me last minute…" said Mimi. "You don't think…"

Things started to connect in Sora's mind, but before she could formulate it, T.K. shouted it out first:

"Maybe they're all together?"

"That's gotta be it!" Sora said, though she was still questioning it. "But guys, Tai was adamant on being alone…"

"Knowing Matt, that's probably why he got upset," said Joe. "He wasn't upset about Izzy, but about _Tai_."

But, why?" Kari asked. "Where could the three of them go without telling the rest of us?"

Sora thought hard as memories ran through her head… seeing Tai's pained, distant expression from blaming himself for what happened to the Digimon… the words from Izzy's message about his project, then remembering him touching his laptop screen, saying, _"We'll meet again…"_

Suddenly, more puzzle pieces were connecting to each other at a faster pace, and Sora stood up from her chair.

"The Digital World," said Sora, shocked as she heard her own voice. "They're trying to go back to the Digital World."

"The _DigiWorld?!_ " The others said in unison, all of them just as stunned as she was.

"What has been Izzy been going on and on about since high school, at least until recently?"

"That project…" said Mimi. "His laptop…"

"The portal…" said Kari.

"Right," said Sora. "I could only guess that with Tai holding everything back about that day, that he had something to do with Izzy holding back, too…"

"But Izzy would never hide anything from any of us," said T.K. "Do you think that's why he went to my brother about it?"

"Maybe," Joe replied. "But he could have gone to any of us. Although…" He looked at Sora with his arms crossed. "I don't see how it would have made any difference. If Sora couldn't get through to Tai, I doubt anyone of the rest of us could."

"That's true," said Kari, frowning at Sora.

"I still don't understand. Why would Tai try to do this on his own?" Mimi asked. "And not tell the rest of us?"

"I think I know why," said T.K., and everyone looked to him. "He's our leader, and I know he wants everything to turn out the best way possible. Maybe he doesn't know what the outcome will be, whether it's good or bad, and didn't want something bad happening again, like it did before… I think he wants to protect us."

"T.K…." Kari's eyes were welling up. Sora's heart softened as she looked at him, his eyes bright and hopeful. She didn't doubt any of T.K.'s words, as they reminded her of one of the reasons why she fell for him…why she loved him so much.

Why she _loved_ him…

… _way too much…_

Sora plopped back into her chair, frozen. All of her thoughts disappeared save for that one foggy memory that slowly became clearer in her mind.

 _Did I… Did I already tell him…?_

"Sora?"

Joe's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked around to see the other four standing around the table, watching her with wonder and apprehension as they leaned closer towards her.

Immediately, Sora stood up, making them all gasp and jump back a little. Her sudden realization of this resurfacing memory shocked her to her core, but she needed to set it aside to focus the issue at hand. She was now leaning on the table, against her palms resting on the tabletop. She felt foolish for not making the connections between Tai, Izzy, and now Matt until this point, and that she let it all slip past her when it was all glaring at her in the face. Her eyebrows furrowed and her mind was now focused.

"What are you thinking, Sora?" Mimi asked, interestedly.

"We have to find out where they went," she said, determined, "and we have to follow them. I can't just let this be," she added, looking to T.K. as she remembered what she told him earlier that day. "It makes sense why Tai wanted to go alone, especially after he's been blaming himself."

"And maybe," T.K. said, "my brother and Izzy forced to go along with him. My brother can be very persistent."

"So can mine," Kari added with a heavy sigh.

"No doubt about that," Sora replied, laughing a little, even with her lingering anger toward him. "But, if I know the team, even if Tai denies it, we all want to be there for each other, especially at a time like this. I've said this before—We can't give up on each other now. Tai, and even Izzy and Matt, they all might want to protect us, but we need to protect them, too. Even if we don't make it in time, we've got to see this through, together."

They all glanced at each other, and nodded in agreement.

"Oh, Sora…" Mimi said, her eyes watering. "Wherever they are, I'll get a car to take us there."

"I'll let the manager know about time away from our shifts right away, too," said Joe.

"I'm with you, Sora," said T.K. "All the way."

Kari looked to Sora, smiling, and gave her a warm hug. "I'm so glad my brother has you to look out for him when I can't. I don't know what would happen if you weren't here."

"Kari…" Sora hugged her back tightly. "All that's left now is to find out where they went."


	13. Chapter 13

**..CHASING THE SUN..**

 **.**

 **Through the Clouds - Part III**

 _ **August 1, 20XX (evening)**_

Before they all parted ways, Sora took a few leftover sandwiches to take home. As Mimi, T.K., and Kari headed out, Sora stayed behind to ask Joe something she wanted to confirm.

"Hey, Joe, the key that Mimi made for you. Do you still have it?"

"Oh, you mean this?" Joe took his set of keys hanging by the front door, taking hold of the key with an elegant teardrop design on its head. "I just have the key to the house, my car, and this for Mimi's beach house. Why do you ask?"

"I've just been wondering about something, but I don't want to say just yet. I'll let you know when I find out more."

Mimi convinced her as well as T.K. and Kari to ride in her car on the way home instead of walking in the heat as they did all day. Before Sora climbed into the backseat, she hesitated for a moment, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She continued climbing in, that paranoid feeling still lingering.

"I felt it again," said Kari, exchanging looks with T.K. as they sat in the car. "Did you?"

"Yes," Sora said with confirmation.

"I had a feeling…" said Mimi, and then she turned to look at the rear window. Sora looked too, and saw the street was clear, and that there were no cars behind them.

Sighing, Sora lowered back into her seat. "We should all keep an eye out," she said, and the others nodded in reply.

As Sora stepped out of the car when it reached her house, Mimi handed her a box.

"Here, Sora," she said. "I baked muffins for you earlier. Something to cheer you up."

Sora smiled at her as Mimi winked back before she closed the door and watched the car drive off.

As soon as she got home, she remembered the task she gave herself once she left Joe's. She went straight into her room and began to rummage through her drawers.

 _Did he take it? Did he take my key?_ she wondered to herself. Mimi didn't tell her about ever making a copy for Tai, but if that was the place he went, then he would have had to have taken hers. As each drawer came up empty as she opened them, she grew more anxious.

The anxiety disappeared, however, as soon as she opened the top drawer of her bedside cabinet, seeing a part of a small item glinting at her from the bottom of it. She picked it up and held it in her hand—the same teardrop-headed key that Joe had.

Sora knew that Mimi wouldn't have just given her key to anyone else, so the question still stood: _Where did they go?_

"Oh, you're home," Sora heard her mom say from her bedroom door. Sora turned around from where she sat on her bed. "I didn't hear you come in."

"Sorry, Mom," she said. "I was focused on finding something, but I found it." Sora's mom looked to what she was holding and smiled as though she realized something.

"The key to Mimi's beach house? You must be joining Izzy later, then?"

Sora stood up to face her. "What do you mean?"

"I was talking to Mrs. Izumi the other day, and she told me Izzy was going with a few friends. I was surprised you didn't mention anything about it, and then I wondered why you were still here and not with him."

The final piece of the puzzle was put in place.

"Don't worry, Mom," she said. "I was going to tell you before I left. I knew half the group couldn't head out until tomorrow, so I decided to wait to go with them."

"I'm sure it'll be nice for all of you. You'll all finally be there together."

"That's right, Mom," said Sora, gripping the key in her hand.

 _They really did go to the beach house…_ Sora thought to herself. _Mimi's going to be so pissed…_

As her mom left her room, Sora grabbed her phone to tell the others what she just learned, keeping her shaking fingers under control as she typed out her message. Knowing this was all Tai's doing only made her angrier with him.

Her next message to them was that they should prepare to leave in the morning. Regardless of how Tai, Matt, or Izzy were getting there, Sora now had a destination to follow them to, and that there was no time to waste in doing it.

* * *

 _ **August 2, 20XX (morning)**_

 _Ring, pause. Ring, pause. Ring…_

Sora pushed the button to end the call as soon as she heard the start of Tai's voicemail. She knew he wasn't going to pick up, yet she tried anyway. She thought to throw his note to her away—she was going to deal with Tai as soon as she saw him.

She packed a few days' worth of clothes and necessities, throwing them all into the duffel bag sitting on top of her bed. As she checked her closet to make sure she wasn't missing anything, she eyed her two-piece swimsuit draped on a clothing hanger at one end of the closet.

The gang was finally going to the beach house together, but it wasn't for the reasons Mimi wanted. Still, Sora figured there had to be some room for some enjoyment, and she knew Mimi would be packing for it, either way. She grabbed the suit and stuck it in her duffle bag.

Yet, there was one more thing Sora was thinking about bringing. Opening the bottom drawer of her bedside cabinet, she wondered if it would do any good to bring her digivice.

 _Biyomon…_ What she would give to see her again. There was no way that she ever could, but…

After her internal debate, she took the digivice and dropped it into her shoulder bag.

Sora was the last to be picked up by Mimi's van. As the passenger door slid open, Joe, who sat in the middle seat, point to her hand.

"What's that?" he asked. Sora looked and realized she was still holding Tai's crumpled note. Hastily, she put it in her back pocket.

"It's nothing," she said.

Soon, they were on their way to the beach house. Mimi was in the front passenger seat, Sora joined Joe in the middle seat and T.K. and Kari already dozed off in the back.

"Mimi, there's something I've been trying to figure out," said Sora. "Joe and I still have our keys. Did you make any other copies?"

Mimi was quiet. Sora could only see her from behind her seat.

"Mimi…?"

Suddenly, Mimi gave a yell, which caused Sora to jump, and Joe gasping next to her. She heard T.K. and Kari jolting awake behind her.

"I've been so guilty about this since last night," she said, moping. "The last year, when the three of you graduated, I knew I had already made a copy for you, Sora, and I didn't think I needed to make one for Tai…but I made one for Matt."

" _Matt?"_

"And when I asked Izzy if he wanted one for his graduation this year, he said he didn't want one. I hadn't told you about Matt's key, Sora, but I must've told Izzy then…"

"So that must be really why Izzy showed up at Matt's the other day…" T.K. thought aloud.

Mimi groaned as she put her head in her hands. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you, Sora! I'm a horrible friend!"

"Mimi, don't worry about it," she said, reaching for her shoulder. "You couldn't have possibly known that this was going to happen."

"But I tell you everything!" she wailed. "And I thought Matt would tell me whenever he was going to use it. Oh, I'm going to kill him!"

* * *

Tai, Izzy, and Matt walked together along a forest trail they had found near the beach house. The large trees above covered most of the sunlight, but it was still hot enough for Tai's forehead to sweat a little while they walked on a hilly path. Izzy had given Tai and Matt each a black, handheld rectangular device with a small antenna and a screen that showed wavelengths that moved rapidly, depending on where it was pointed.

"We can try testing it out in the place with the steepest waves—that could give us our best chances in opening the portal." explained Izzy. "The closer the waves are on those screens, the better."

Tai watched the screen he held in front of him, seeing the waves contract and expand more rapidly as they stood in an area of the forest that was large and open, surrounded by trees but directly under a big, open sky, with the sun beaming down on them. It was different a few moments ago, when screen showed large waves to straight lines while they were walking underneath the trees.

"The beach was good, but this place might not be so bad," said Tai, looking up and walking around.

"I actually agree," said Matt.

"It's settled, then," Izzy said. "We can keep walking to find another area, but we can test it all out this evening."

On the night of August 1st, after travelling by bus and getting lost on the way, they had arrived in front of a gate in the middle of a huge, long wall that spanned a few yards. At the gate, there was a number pad asking for a code, which was imprinted on the head of the key that Matt was given by Mimi.

"She's going to kill me," said Matt, making Tai stop and turn to him, Izzy still walking ahead. Matt was looking at the key as it rested on the palm of his hand. Then he looked to Tai, who could find no comforting words of advice to give, knowing he could very well be saying the same thing Matt was saying now.

Tai watched Matt put the key back in his pocket, then continued on with Izzy, holding the wave screen in front of him.

A loud snap was heard just then, causing the three of them to look at each other.

"What was that?" Tai asked, urgently. They slowly realized that none of them were stepping on any broken twigs.

"Maybe it was a squirrel…" said Matt, though sounding doubtful. Tai quickly started to search around, peering behind trees and surveying the forest landscape, but the grass and bushes lay still.

"Maybe," Tai said, deciding to agree.

"No one else should be here but us three, right?" Izzy asked.

"As far as I know," said Matt.

"Well, let's get back to the house," Tai suggested, shaking off his paranoia. "We could probably use a break."

"I suppose," Izzy said.

* * *

Sora and the other were almost to the beach house, and everyone had been quiet for most of the ride. Joe took out a textbook, while Sora saw T.K. and Kari huddling together, immersed in something they watched together on Kari's phone. Sora found herself falling into her own thoughts.

"Sora," Mimi called from the front passenger's seat. "Have you eaten…?"

"Hmm?" Sora was lost in thought for a while as she looked out through her window, but she had been munching on one of the muffins Mimi baked for her. She saw Mimi look to Joe, both of them smiling at each other meaningfully, then Mimi looked to her again with a bigger smile.

"Never mind," said Mimi.

Sora turned to the window again. She had been looking up at the sky, noticing the sun from the corners of her eyes as it brightened the white wisps against the blue. It was a glowing, fiery yellow above her, looking as though it was running across the sky while she rode along in the car. No matter how fast the car sped up or slowed down, she'd never catch up to it.

She could only hope he would let her catch up to him at some point.

"Beautiful day, isn't it?" Joe asked. He must have noticed how long she had been staring out the window.

"It is," Sora replied, but kept her gaze toward the sky. She wouldn't have known how to explain what she was thinking if she tried.

* * *

.

.

.

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 **Author's Notes:** To answer a question from last chapter - there will be more of Tai's POV from this point on. Sora was always the main character, but I thought it made sense to add Tai's side of the story, especially with what happens later on.

Thanks for reading! =)


	14. Chapter 14

**..CHASING THE SUN..**

 **.**

 **Through the Clouds - Part IV**

 _ **August 2, 20XX (afternoon)**_

" _I know why you run, Tai."_

 _Sora's voice echoed into his ears. Tai looked down at his feet as he stood with Sora, who was hugging him tightly from behind. There she was, when he thought she would be angry at him for what he did._

" _You've made a mess of things not only for yourself, but for me, too," she told him._

" _Then, why do you stay, Sora?" he asked her, hearing his own voice echo, and her hold on him felt tighter._

" _Because I know you. You won't leave me. You said so yourself."_

 _Tai looked in front of him, a ball of light glimmering at him, then growing bigger and brighter, forming pixels of color that took shape into an orange reptile-like creature, his bright green eyes staring widely at him._

"… _Agumon…?"_

" _Tai!" he said, laughing. "I'm so happy to see you. Tai…"_

 _Agumon stood before him, but was suddenly going further and further away from him._

" _It's okay, Tai," said Sora, releasing him from her grasp. "Run to him."_

" _Agumon!" Tai yelled, breaking into a run, but not feeling like he was moving at all._

" _Tai…" he said, Agumon's voice getting softer. Tai reached his hand out as Agumon disappeared in front of his eyes._

* * *

"Tai. Wake up."

"Huh…?" Tai was shaken as he awoke. No longer was he reaching for his Digimon, but he was staring up at the dark ceiling in front of him. His hand closed on the bedsheet beside him, and he was disheartened to realize that Sora wasn't near him at all.

Groaning, he rolled over in the king-sized bed. It was bigger than the bed he slept in at home, and much more comfortable—so comfortable that he didn't want to move.

"Tai, are you up?"

"I'm up, Izzy," he said, even as he heard Izzy's voice from far away. He sat up and rubbed his eyes open in the darkened room, with light shining only at the bedroom door where Izzy stood a few feet away. "What time is it?"

"It's almost noon. It's been two hours since we got back and you fell asleep."

"What? Noon?" Confused, Tai looked to the alarm clock on the further side of his bed. Then, taking the remote from that same side, he pushed a button, which caused the curtains to move open, revealing a panoramic view of the ocean beach front from the second floor, with the sun shining brightly overhead. Tai covered his eyes with his hands from the blinding view.

"This place is overwhelming," said Izzy, falling into the large sofa close to the patio door. "Two floors with four gigantic bedrooms on each. They all look the same. I can't even find Matt."

Tai fell back into bed, remembering that the three of them spent more time than they should have figuring out the layout of the beach house alone. On the first night, the three of them were too tired to talk, so they all went on their own, agreeing to meet in the living room when they all woke up the next day. Little did they realize there was more than one living room on either floor.

Even now, when looking at the beautiful view of the ocean, the daylight was still bothering Tai. "We should probably just wait for him to show up, then," Tai said, taking one of the big, fluffy pillows and covering his head underneath.

"What's this about not looking for me?" said Matt suddenly. Tai pulled the pillow from his head and opened his eyes, seeing Matt standing at the doorway, his hair standing in every direction.

Ignoring Matt, Tai thought back to his dream. They were closer than he ever thought they would be, and he didn't want their little delays to stop them from moving forward. He got out of bed and stretched himself with his arms outstretched above him.

"Come on, guys," he said, his face now serious. "Let's continue with the plan. We've got work to do."

As Tai walked toward the door, Izzy uttered something quietly that made Tai stop.

"You were talking in your sleep," he said.

"I was?" went Tai, thinking about Agumon.

"It was as though you were talking to Sora," he said.

"Oh. I guess so." Tai continued to walk, but Izzy kept talking.

"We wouldn't be here if it weren't for her, you know," he said, looking guilty. "She pushed me to talk to you, even when I was hesitant to."

"Sounds like something she would do," Matt chimed in, combing his hair with his fingers.

Tai could only agree. He responded by walking out his door, intending to continue with the plan after all, although now his mind was racing.

* * *

After a few, long hours on the long, winding road from the city, the van drove past the large gate and through the forest. It was now evening, and the van was parked behind a very large building as they approached the sandy beach in the clearing. As Sora and the others jumped out of the van, they all looked at the building together in awe.

"We're here, guys!" said Mimi, holding her arm out with a pose. "Welcome to my beach house!"

"Wow," said T.K. under his breath. Kari screamed with delight, and Joe's eyes were wide with disbelief as he pushed his glasses at the bridge.

"It's incredible, Mimi," Sora said with her breath caught in her throat at its simple, yet curvy architecture, the lights placed perfectly to showcase its magnificence. She was looking forward to seeing what the front looking like, and how the views of the beach looked from the inside.

But she also knew that Tai and the others might be inside, too. Her expression changed then.

"We should find him first," Sora said then.

"Right…" said Mimi, sadly though with understanding. "We can leave our things here, they'll be taken inside."

Sora walked up the steps to the back door, Mimi following behind. She was about to reach the door handle, when they all heard a familiar voice, making Sora stop, frozen where she stood.

"Joe? Is that you?" Sora and Mimi looked at each other as they saw Matt walking up the footpath toward them.

"Well, if it isn't Matt!" said Joe who was still at the bottom of the steps, with a tinge of uneasiness in his voice.

"No way, it _is_ Matt!" said T.K., who was now running down the steps to greet him. Kari looked up at both Mimi and Sora, unsure of how to proceed, but decided on joining T.K. and Joe silently.

Mimi looked like she could breathe fire at any moment. Sora said nothing, but walked down the steps slowly, feeling her own fury coming on.

"Whoa—you guys really—" came Izzy's stunned voice.

"Let's just cut to the chase," she heard Joe say. "We know you're trying to get to the Digital World. Why didn't you tell the rest of us?"

"Joe, we can explain—" Matt began, but was interrupted by Kari, who stepped in front of Joe.

"It was all Tai, wasn't it?" Kari said forcefully. "He didn't want any of us to know, right?"

"Kari?" Tai was now in the mix. "Joe, T.K.—You shouldn't have come here."

"And why not?" Kari asked, face-to-face with Tai. T.K. hovered around her from behind, as though he was waiting for something bad to happen. "I thought we were a team. This involves our Digimon, too."

"It doesn't matter now," said Tai. "We'll explain it to the rest of you later."

"Stop this, Tai!" said Kari, her eyes alight as she stared up at him. "We're all here now. You can't keep going alone if everyone's here."

"Everyone…? Wait, where's S—"

Sora was now at the bottom of the steps when Tai and the others turned to look at her with Mimi right behind her. She remained composed, though she felt as though she was ready to burst into anger.

"Sora…" Tai said, his expression now tense as he started taking a step back.

"She figured it out…" said Matt, looking just as tense. When he turned to look at Mimi, he slowly started to back away just the same.

Closer and closer, Sora moved toward the group silently, though various emotions were now rising up her chest. It was a mix of what she felt during all those times she yelled at him, when she read his note that still happened to be sitting in her pocket, and when she finally pieced together where he ran off to—which was where they were all standing at that very moment.

The others parted in opposite directions, leaving Tai in front of her alone. She stopped in front of him, her fiery stare reaching his careful gaze.

Sora stared until she couldn't hold herself back anymore. The next thing she knew, her hand was thrown across the side of his face, leaving him frozen in place, eyes widened in shock. She took a few steps past him silently. The others were speechless to react.

Then, not knowing what else to do, Sora broke into a run, ignoring her friends' voices call her from behind. She ran and ran along the trail through the trees, not knowing where it would lead her. Running from him was the last thing she wanted to do, but it was what she felt she needed. He's always running, why couldn't she do the same to him?

As she ran, hearing her quick footfalls against the dirt, she heard another pair of feet running close behind, quickly catching up to her. It only convinced her that running wasn't going to solve anything. Without looking back, she slowed her pace to a stop, bending down and holding her knees as she caught her breath. She heard the panting behind her slow down to normal along with her.

"I don't need to tell you how furious I am with you right now, Tai," said Sora, straightening herself up and turning around.

"I know," he said. She stood a few feet apart from him, his shoulders slumped, and she could see the mark on his cheek shining red.

"I know why you followed me. You ran after me, because you know what you did, and you know how much it hurt me. You hurt me…"

"I know." His voice was even quieter now beneath her firm, unwavering tone.

"You _hurt_ me, Tai." She took a step forward toward him, her voice lowering but madder in tone. "You left that morning without saying a word! And, you got two of our friends into your own mess! While the rest of us have to decipher whatever goes on in your head…"

All of Sora's thoughts over the past few months suddenly rushed back to her, and her head ached from it all. Tai stayed quiet and stood still as she moved closer to him, until she was close enough to rest her forehead on his chest.

"Everything hurts," she whispered, her heart aching now, though she was still refusing to cry. "You could have just told me what you wanted to do, and I would have gone with you all the way."

"I know."

"You could have told the others, too. But you've just been so. _damn_. _selfish_."

"I…"

She put her hands on his chest and raised her head to look up into his eyes, her own eyes imploring.

"Get it out of your head, Tai, that what happened to the Digimon was all your fault. _It's not your fault._ Not everything rests on you. _All of us_ ended up in the Digital World back then. _All of us_ saved it together. We were all there at the last battle together. And back there, at the beach house… the rest of us rushed here so that we could all be together for this."

Tai said nothing. Sora could see his eyes were no longer distant, just quiet and troubled. Did she get through to him? She never had any idea… but she would never stop trying, no matter how many times it took.

She held her stare with him, until she finally decided to turn from him, and started to head toward the direction they came from.

"Let's go back to the others," she said, "and then you can tell all of us what's going on."

She turned to face the path in front of her and started walking, not hearing movement from him at first, but putting her trust in him that he would follow suit. It took him a few moments, but she heard him following her soon after.

Soon, they both were back at the beach house, and seeing that the luggage that was sitting outside was no longer there, Sora figured everyone had gone inside by now. She climbed up the same steps she had begun to earlier, with Tai still following behind her.

She heard low chatter and clinking sounds in another room when they entered through the back door. Following the sounds, she discovered the six of her friends around the dining table, eating a meal prepared by one of the house chefs. The room fell silent the moment she and Tai appeared before them. No one wanted to speak, and after a moment of complete silence, they continued eating. Sora caught Mimi's eye when she motioned her to sit in the empty chair next to her.

Her first thought was to turn around and find her things. Suddenly she was too stressed to think about eating. But, maybe she turned a little too quickly, because she was suddenly dizzy and lost balance. She caught herself from falling over, but noticed that Tai grabbed ahold of her wrist.

She met his and she knew that he recognized what she was doing. His stare was a wordless command, maybe a plea, for her to remember to look after herself.

Tai loosened his grip and sat down between Matt and Izzy. The others watched her with concern as she made her way to her seat. She almost let herself slip this time; although, no one, not even Tai, was going to let her fall into her careless habit again.

Quietly, she ate, and quietly, so did the others. There were only quick glances among them, but no one wanted to talk about how they all ended up there together.

Tai was the first one to leave the table. Then, it was Kari, then Joe, followed by Izzy, Matt, and T.K. Mimi finished her plate long before everyone else, but she waited until Sora finished eating and was ready to leave.

"I showed everyone else to their rooms, except for you, Sora," she told her. There was no cheer in Mimi's voice, which saddened her. She took a hold of Mimi's hand and held it comfortingly, knowing that this wasn't exactly how Mimi planned their beach house trip as a group to be.

Mimi showed Sora to her room, which was on the ground floor, past the door of the dining room, across the large hallway. Upon entering, she saw a king-sized bed almost as big as the one Mimi had, if not bigger, with a three-person couch against the wall near the patio that had a view of the beach and ocean in front. The room itself was huge, exactly like a hotel suite for two or more people.

"Are all of the rooms like this?" she asked Mimi, who nodded.

"Yup, all eight," Mimi said. "I made sure you got the one with the best view, though.

Sora only wished she could have marveled at her room, its nighttime view, and maybe, that view would be amazing in the morning, too.

"I'm sorry, Mimi," she said, sighing sadly, but Mimi smiled and shook her head.

"I figured tonight would be good for all of us to have space from each other. "That's why everyone has their own room."

"That's probably best." Sora gave her a small smile. "We can all gather and talk in the morning."

Mimi giggled. "At least you're in good spirits right now. We all don't have to worry so much."

"Oh, Mimi." Sora pulled her in for a warm embrace, and Mimi hugged back.

"Call me if you need anything. I have one of the rooms upstairs."

And then, Mimi left Sora on her own. With nothing else to do, Sora dressed into nightwear and crawled into the huge bed, instantly feeling the comfort of the soft mattress and the large, fluffy pillows surrounding her. It was dead silent, but she embraced it as the ceiling she stared at over her was fading from view into black. She had a feeling, in some way or another, that there was going to be a lot in store for her and her friends tomorrow.


	15. Chapter 15

**..CHASING THE SUN..**

 **.**

 **Through the Clouds - Part V**

 _ **August 3, 20XX**_

Sora awoke the next morning, opening her eyes to see the view of the beach and ocean in front of her. The bright blue sky was only getting brighter as the sun rose higher in the sky. She had forgotten to close the curtains before falling asleep, but with that kind of view, it didn't bother her one bit.

When she opened the patio door, the morning sun greeted her warmly, with a blast of the cool ocean breeze heading her way. The beach only enticed her to come visit.

After changing out of her nightwear, she opened the door from her room to the hallway, discovering it was empty. She doubted that anyone else would be awake at this hour; perhaps Joe would have been the only other person, though he might have been cooped up in his room, quietly reading something. Everyone else she knew tended to wake up later if she let them be.

But as she left her room and headed toward the front door, she heard a voice call her from behind, and she whirled around to see that Tai was standing at the foot of the staircase at the other end of the hall.

"It's early, Tai," she said from across the hall.

"You know me, Sora," he said. "I can't sleep."

They walked towards each other until they met in the middle of the hall. She had calmed herself down from yesterday's events, but she remained upset with him, yet…

"I was just about to go for a walk, if you wanted to join," she said, observing his fatigued and forlorn expression. "We don't have to talk right now, Tai," she added. "Not if you don't want to."

"I'll join you," was all he said.

They walked down the hallway together, past the dining and living room areas, and removed their house slippers in the foyer. As they walked out of the front door barefoot, Sora stopped at the edge of the concrete floor that met the sand, looking at the ocean beyond. She noticed Tai standing next to her, his hand fidgeting as though he wanted to take hold of hers.

As she was about to take a step into the sand, she was stopped by Tai grabbing hold of her elbow to pull her close.

"Tai, wha—"

But when she looked to him, he was looking to the side of the beach house, past the trees surrounding the nearby forest path. Someone was approaching. She felt a prickly feeling at the back of her neck again, her heart suddenly beating faster, sensing that it definitely wasn't any of their friends.

"Who's there?" Tai shouted, standing on guard in front of her. Sora took hold of his shoulder, watching the silhouette of a person appearing more clearly, with two others closely behind.

"Don't be alarmed," said the woman who showed up in front of them. Sora calm down, but stayed alert as she immediately recognized her fitted business suit, glasses, and hair tied in a bun. Two males appeared behind her, each dressed in a military uniform. "We mean no harm. Taichi Yagami, Sora Takenouchi."

Sora moved from behind Tai to stand next to him.

"You're from the military base," Sora said. "You rescued us and took us in on the day of the attack… Why are you here now?"

"We've been watching you since that day," the woman replied. "That day we rescued you. And we've concluded that you know more than you let on before. We need your help."

Sora glanced at Tai, her mind starting to race with questions. Tai looked back as though he might have been doing the same.

"Why would you need our help?" Tai asked.

"Because of the Digimon," she said. "Taichi, Agumon has been calling for you."

* * *

"Tai!" Sora caught his fall from behind has he felt as though the wind had been knocked out of him. Even though he hoped it was true, even with his head full of doubts, he never expected to hear that his friend was…

"He's…alive…?" Tai said, standing up with Sora's support.

"Just barely," the woman replied. "He was unconscious but still breathing when our crew found him in the rubble. We've been trying to treat him for a month and a half. He's been stable, but there has been no sign of improvement."

"Were there any others alive?" Tai heard Sora ask anxiously beside him.

"There were no other surviving Digimon."

Tai looked to her as she looked away painfully. Surely, she must've had a glimmer of hope once they both heard about Agumon, only to hear the hope be immediately shot down.

"We don't have much time, Taichi," said the woman. "Agumon's vitals have been worsening. He needs to go back to his world for a better chance at survival, and we know you have a way to get there."

"You mean, you know about Izzy's…" Tai furrowed his eyebrows at the woman, who nodded.

"We can bring him here," she said. "We can take you to see him, if you'd like. Then, we'll bring you back here to take him through the portal."

"You should go," Sora said quietly, resting her hand on his shoulder. Her voice was resilient, but subdued. "For your sake. I'll wake up the others and let them know. Izzy can update me and everyone else about your plans."

Not only was he going to go back to the Digital World for the answers he sought for himself and for everyone, but he would also reunite with Agumon, and they would get to go back, together.

In reality, Tai was going to handle things on his own, just as he originally intended. But… did he really want this to happen?

As Sora let him go and turned to head back inside, Tai took her hand to stop her from taking another step. He almost let her keep walking. Maybe his hand moved on its own, and now it was holding hers closely. His own thoughts weighed down his need to go at it alone, but ever since yesterday his mind was stewing over Sora's words, and he couldn't stop hearing her voice.

 _Not everything rests on you…_

Her voice encouraged him to silence his thoughts.

"We should all go see him," Tai told the woman as well as a surprised Sora. "The others deserve to know what's going on, too."

"Very well, then," said the woman. "Our caravan will be waiting for you behind the beach house."

The woman and the two uniformed men walked away, leaving Tai and Sora standing in front of the beach house, alone again. Tai noticed Sora staring at him, and they were still holding hands. As he turned his head to look at her, she squeezed his hand and let go, before she turned to walk back into the house to wake the others.

He followed closely after, realizing from her look and the touch of her hand that not once did she ever intend to leave him. She yelled at him, cried, and stormed off from him at times. She even graced him with a slap across his face. But, after all the turmoil he put her through, even when he pushed her away from his own darkness, there she was, showing up with everybody else. She had always been there, glowing her light for him in the distance, and she kept giving him a reason to trust in her.

He was ready to start talking.

* * *

Sora and Tai knocked on everyone's doors when they walked back inside, and told them to meet them in the living room downstairs.

"Sora, what's wrong?" Mimi asked, noticing her and Tai's glum expressions.

Everyone looked to Sora to speak, but she turned to Tai, both of them knowing he should be the one to tell them.

"Agumon is still alive," he said, which was followed by a chorus of gasps. "He has to get back to the DigiWorld soon."

"And the others?" Kari asked, suddenly uneasy.

"The others… didn't make it, for sure."

A thud was heard nearby, and Sora turned to see that Izzy had dropped his backpack.

"No…" she uttered. They had all kept quiet about debating whether their Digimon were alive or not, and Kari was one of the ones who, until now, wanted to believe that their Digimon were still alive.

"I didn't think Patamon would be, especially how he was hit," T.K. said. "But, Agumon…"

"Tai, if you're going back with Agumon…" Matt said, standing up from his seat on the couch, "Then that means…"

"That's right, Matt," Tai said, and Matt's expression fell. Sora could see his disappointment, but he still looked to Tai.

"I understand, then," Matt replied. Before Sora could ask what they were talking about, there was a honk from outside.

"We'll talk more later," Sora said. "Everyone, go get dressed. We're going to the military base to see him."

Sora watched T.K. hugging Kari before they hurried to their rooms.

Tai and Sora walked a step past Izzy before realizing he standing still. Sora turned to him, feeling a lump in her throat.

"Izzy…" she said, and Tai placed his hand onto Izzy's shoulder.

"All this time…" Izzy began quietly, "Tentomon…"

"I know, Izzy," said Tai, patting him with comfort. Izzy said nothing else before heading off to his own room to change.

Minutes later, the group was outside, Tai standing in front of all of them as he stood face to face with the military woman. Sora saw his look of uncertainty.

"Having second thoughts?" she asked him. Sora watched Tai look to Izzy without hesitation, and Izzy stopped a while before he finally nodded with resolve. Then, he looked to everyone else, all nodding in silent agreement.

"We have none," Tai said, "We're going." It was as though Tai didn't want to get into the van if Izzy, or maybe even any of the others, decided not to. Maybe if this happened yesterday, Tai would have just went to see Agumon alone, regardless.

It was a change in Tai's behavior that she was quickly taking note of.

* * *

 _***NOTE: Seating arrangement in the caravan, front to back***_

 _Joe Mimi Tai Kari_

 _T.K. Izzy Matt Sora_

* * *

They sat four on each side facing each other, with Kari, Tai, Mimi, and Joe on one side, and Sora, Matt, Izzy, and T.K. on the other. It was just the eight of them in the back, so Sora saw it was a good chance for Tai, Izzy, and Matt to start talking.

"Well, there were fragments of code I had never really paid attention to before," Izzy began, jumping right in. "I suppose that's what happens when you try to stare at something for so long, but these fragments one day somehow looked misplaced. All I had to do was piece them together, and that's how the portal came to be."

"But, why did you choose to go to the beach house?" Kari asked.

"It was the perfect place to open up a portal without causing a scene. Knowing how, in the past, those portals suddenly showed up in various parts of town and got people to panic, there was no doubt we had to try to open it in a place away from the noise of the city, and where we could have complete concentration."

Sora wondered if she heard similar words before… Perhaps she'd heard them from Joe. She looked to Joe, who appeared to have been remembering something.

"Hmph!" said Mimi suddenly. Her nose was turned up and her arms were crossed. "I know I said any of you could go to my beach house at any time, but it would have been nice if you told me first! You especially, Matt!"

Matt opened his mouth, about to speak, but Izzy interjected quickly.

"Hold on, Mimi, Matt was only brought into this because of me. Tai and I had a plan, and I was the one who asked him to join us."

"And you didn't think to ask any of the rest of us?" Mimi asked loudly. "This is the DigiWorld we're talking about! For as long as we've known each other—"

"Cut him some slack, Mimi," Matt said calmly.

"Oh, I'll cut him some slack, Matt, but _you_! You were the one with the key! Why didn't you just tell me where you were going instead of cancelling our plans all of a sudden, for no reason at all? I was starting to wonder if you hated me all of a sudden—"

"You're blowing this out of proportion, Mimi!" came Matt's voice raised all of a sudden. "Maybe this was why I didn't want to tell you in the first place—"

" _Matt. Mimi_." Sora said, recognizing their outbursts. She knew Mimi was hurt by Matt's actions and must have been holding this in the last few days, waiting for the chance to confront him about it. Still, she couldn't let this problem be just between them. "Remember, you two, it wasn't just Mimi."

"She's right," Joe said, leaning forward beside her from the end of the seat to meet everyone's line of sight. "The question still stands: _Why didn't you tell the rest of us?_ "

"Isn't it obvious?" Tai asked, letting out a hollow laugh. "It wouldn't be fair to yell at Izzy and Matt, when it all goes back to me."

Sora turned to face him, seeing his head down, avoided eye contact from everyone, but everyone now fixed on him. Kari was now watching him intently next to him, and T.K. looked on over Izzy's shoulder.

"It's okay, Tai," said Sora, sensing his hesitation. "We're ready to listen." He looked up at her, showing fear in his eyes. Was he going to say something? Was he going to stay quiet? She was uncertain as she held her stare until she saw him take a deep breath and sigh.

"Ever since that day, I had been blaming myself for what happened, and I led myself to believe you all blamed me, too," he went on. "I was afraid to talk to you guys. I was afraid to look at any of you, even you, Kari… and even you, Sora."

To Sora's amazement, Tai was finally opening up. Her heart softened as she looked on with the others, anticipating more.

"Then, when Izzy showed up at my house that day, I almost couldn't believe it. I was glad to have one of my friends back, but I still couldn't bring myself to reach out to you all, not after what I did."

"But, Tai—" Mimi began, but Joe nudged her, as though to tell her to let Tai continue.

"It was when I started hanging out with Izzy when I found out he was still trying to find a way back to the DigiWorld. After the attack, it was all he spent his free time on. I latched onto his ideas, desperate to find a way to redeem myself. In a way, I saw his desperation too. We both wanted answers, and we both wanted to go back. But, at the same time, I begged him to keep it between us. I didn't want any of you to find out and get your hopes up, especially if it all ended up failing in the end."

"So, you really were protecting us," T.K. piped up from behind Izzy.

"I thought that's what I was doing, too," said Tai. "I didn't want to see any of you hurt anymore, because of me. I was being extremely selfish. I see how much that part of it backfired…"

Sora felt the sting as tears began to well beneath her lower lids. She breathed in, keeping them from leaking any further. Izzy chimed in over the silence looming over them.

"When I showed Tai that I found a way to open the portal with the push of a button, there was a newfound hope between the two of us," he said, seriously. "We both knew somehow, that we could find out why the attacks happened, and how to stop them from happening. And even, until earlier…" Izzy paused after hearing his voice crack. "…how we could see our partners again."

When she looked around at everyone else, she saw their faces were just as solemn as how she felt.

"We would have wanted to go with you, regardless," she said, looking at Izzy and then at Tai.

"I wanted that, too," Izzy replied. "But according to my calculations, the portal doesn't have enough strength for everyone to go in at once. My best guess, at most, was that it can allow two bodies to go through it."

"Just two?"

"Just two," Tai affirmed. "None of that mattered to me, though—I let my desperation consume me, and I had been running with the idea that I was going to go in myself."

"No way in _hell_ I was going to let that happen," added Matt. "Not after Izzy told me what you were trying to do, Tai."

"And the reason I told Matt… well…" Izzy paused as he looked down on the ground, as though he was wanting to avoid eye contact at first, but then looked up. "I was just… embarrassed to talk to all of you. I knew Joe had a key, too, but he's always tied up with the hospital clinic. And I knew we couldn't be discreet if I approached Mimi about it—"

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Mimi asked, scowling.

"Everyone would know about it if he told you first," Matt said, matter-of-factly.

"And Sora," Izzy peered over from Matt's side so he could see her. "I felt extremely guilty for not telling you everything that Tai and I were working on."

"I understand," said Sora, looking from Izzy to Tai, knowingly. Tai stared back, worried, but not saying anything, either. She didn't want to open it up in front of the others, but she knew Tai would have asked Izzy not to tell her anything, especially.

"Izzy, even though you didn't tell us everything," said Joe, "you tried pointing us in the right direction, didn't you? You stopped talking about your laptop and what was on it, but you kept dropping clues in your messages. You mentioned the beach house more times than Mimi has to us all summer—and she's mentioned it _a lot_!"

"Hey!" Mimi said, grimacing even more now.

"I think he's right," said Matt, and Mimi's face went red.

"He probably is…" Mimi crossed her arms and leaned back. Sora looked over Izzy to in awe, realizing what Joe just said.

"Still, he didn't have to do that, if it weren't for me," said Tai, his head now lowered again. "I shouldn't have disappeared on any of you like that. I didn't want you to share any of the blame, any of my pain… but all I've done was cause more of it."

"Tai…" Kari put her arms around him and nuzzled against him comfortingly. "This was all I've been wanting, for you to just talk to us."

Sora saw Tai trembling again as he talked. "We've already suffered enough these last few months, and I…"

"Oh, Tai," said Mimi, whose hand was now on Tai's shoulder opposite Kari. Tai looked up at her. "It's been a hard couple of months. Some of us have more patience than others…"

"Some of us," said Matt agreeably, he and Mimi looking Sora's way.

"…But, you know, it really is good to know where you're coming from, because telling us how you feel is part of us being friends. And it makes me happy knowing that we still are."

"Mimi… of course we are," said Tai, and Mimi smiled, wiping a tear leaking from her eye. "That goes for the rest of you, too. That is, if you want us to be…"

"Enough of that talk, Tai," said Joe. "We're all here because we want to be, truly."

"You worry too much, Tai," Matt said. "You and I have disagreed on a lot of things, but I'm not going to put an end to our friendship because of this."

"I never wanted to stop, Tai," said T.K.

"You're still the best," added Izzy.

"Everyone…" Tai looked down at the floor again, his voice shaking. "I really… don't deserve any of you as friends at all. I'm sorry…"

With that, Sora noticed drops of tears falling on the back of her hands on her lap. Tai's words, everyone's reactions—they had all given her a wave of relief, knowing Tai had just confessed the things he had been holding back for so long. She then felt a hand on her shoulder, and then saw a pack of tissues held in front of her face. She looked to Matt who gave her a small knowing smile.

"Thanks, friend," she said quietly as she smiled back, taking a tissue to dab her tears away.

Just then, the closed window from the front seat slid open, and the military woman's face appeared before them.

"We're here," she said.

The door opened then, and everyone climbed out of the van, leaving Sora and Tai sitting alone together.

"I'm glad you did that, Tai," she told him, giving him a small smile. Tai looked a little hesitant, but, more than anything, relieved.

"So am I, Sora. I couldn't have done it without you."

Sora observed his cheeks flush as she felt her own feel warm. But she noticed something else that made her get up from her seat to sit next to him. Taking hold of his hand, she leaned towards him, moving closer to his face with curiosity.

"It's going to be there a while, you know…" he said, feebly. "The mark from when you slapped me."

"Well, you deserved it," she said, her eyes now reaching his gaze.

"I'm not denying that."

The tired lines around his eyes were still there, but in his eyes, there was now something different.

A clearing of a throat was heard, and Sora turned to see the military woman peering from outside.

"We should go," said Sora, turning to Tai.

"That's right," said Tai. "Agumon is waiting for me."

She felt her eyes water, but blinked and turned from him to exit out of the van. It was the first time she heard him say his partner's name after the attacks, but as Tai followed her out, being greeted reassuringly by the others and T.K. jumping onto him for a hug, Sora realized that surely, very surely, he was on his way back to her.

* * *

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 **Author Note:** Phew, this was a pretty long one. We finally get some explanations here.

Thanks for reading up until this point. Hope you stick around for the rest!


	16. Chapter 16

**..CHASING THE SUN..**

 **.**

 **Through the Clouds- Part VI**

 _ **August 3, 20XX (midday)**_

Tai was the first of the group following behind the military woman down a brightly lit hallway of the medical facility, with nothing to see but plain white walls and ceiling. Sora and everyone else were right behind him, and he heard nothing but their footsteps echoing along the tiled floor.

"It's this room here," said the woman, stopping in front of a door on one side. She pulled out a card and inserted it into the reader on the side of the door, and they all heard a beep followed by a click. She opened the door and held her hand out. Tai took a step forward, then hesitated, suddenly fearing what he might see when he walked in.

"Don't worry, Tai," he heard Sora say, and he turned to her as he felt her put his hand in both of hers. "We're all here for you."

"Thanks," he said. Then Tai entered the room, everyone else filing in after.

It was a sitting room of some sort, with a rectangular glass window opposite the door they had just entered. It was in the room on the other side of the window where Agumon laid on a bed, his eyes closed and not moving.

"Agumon… Agumon!" Tai shouted as he hurried to the window, wanting a closer look at him. He looked frail as he lay underneath the tubes and wires that were hooked up to the beeping machines surrounding him. Tai could see the large bandage around Agumon's torso, remembering that was where he was struck last.

"Tai…" the fragile voice croaked through a monitor in the room, and Agumon's eyes were slowly opening. "Tai… I've been waiting for you…"

"Agumon…" Tai could hear his own voice break. The woman opened another door for Tai then, the one next to the window, and he only knew to run through it so he could be by Agumon's side. It wasn't a dream this time. "Agumon… I'm here, buddy…"

"I never doubted…that I would see you again…"

Hearing his partner struggling to speak broke his heart.

"You're a tough little guy," Tai said. "That was a pretty huge hit you took back then." That made Agumon cough a weak laugh.

"We've been through worse, me and the other Digimon… I heard… they didn't survive…"

Tai put his hand on the edge of the bed, suddenly feeling something in his throat.

"Tai…?" Agumon couldn't move his head, but Tai felt his green eye stare at him from the side.

"It's nothing."

He didn't want to trouble Agumon with his thoughts, especially not in his condition. However, like Sora, like all of his friends, Agumon saw right through him.

"You worry too much, Tai…" Agumon said through his labored breathing. "About the things you can't control… I know what you're thinking… It's not…your fault…"

"Agumon…" Tai looked at him, feeling tormented.

"Believe me… Believe everyone…"

It was then that Agumon's eyelids slowly lowered to a close.

"Taichi." The military woman had opened the door. There was an older man in a white coat next to her, whom Tai figured was a doctor. Tai looked at the others through the window; they had all been watching with concerned looks on their faces.

"Agumon?" Tai repeated his name again, confused.

He did not answer Tai's call, but the machines were beeping no faster or slower than they had been.

"He has fallen back to sleep," the doctor said. "He has lost a lot of metabolism, and has been surviving on various medications, but in his failing condition, we can't keep him on them forever."

"…How long does he have?" Tai asked, even though he was afraid to.

"At this rate, not very long, maybe a few days. It's a wonder he's been alive for this long."

Tai looked to Agumon, who was now sleeping soundly, and put both of his hands over his clawed hand closest to him. He couldn't help but believe that Agumon had been holding out for this long, just for the chance to be with him again.

"We'll get you back to the DigiWorld soon," said Tai quietly to him. "I promise."

* * *

Sora and the others had been watching Tai and Agumon through the window, looking on anxiously. It was a bittersweet feeling, seeing them talk to each other, with Agumon moving and talking with all his might in his fragile condition. Sora couldn't forget what the military woman said—he needed to return to the Digital World.

There were questions that needed to be answered. Sora turned to the woman as she stood behind, observing them.

"How do you know about Digimon?" Sora asked, staring at her.

"We've been researching them for years," the woman replied. "From the night a Greymon and a Parrotmon appeared, and then again a few years later with the monsters at the TV station."

Sora gasped, and heard the others do the same.

"That was when…" T.K. started, looking at everyone else in shock.

"Those same eight Digimon at the TV station then were fighting downtown over a month ago," the woman continued. "And our recent discovery showed that all eight of you were there in all three events."

"You said you've been watching us," Sora said. "Was that you following us before? Including that time at the stadium?"

"Moreso in the recent days than others," the woman replied. "All in public places. At first, we didn't see anything of interest after the attack. And then, we saw what happened at the bar."

Sora drew in her breath as she felt everyone's eyes fall on her. It was that day she still regretted, for acting so recklessly.

"You made quite a scene, but that confirmed our suspicions about your knowledge."

She stayed silent as she looked to the others, hesitantly at first, but then they all exchanged nods, agreeing for her to share their story.

Sora started right at the beginning of their adventure, on that day during summer camp, when strange glowing devices fell from the sky, and suddenly they were swept into a strange world—the Digital World. She kept it brief and concise, explaining their partners, the monsters they encountered, and how they ended up saving the two worlds.

"So, our theory about this connection was accurate," said the woman, eyes lit up with interest.

"And if you're asking about how they entered our world a few months ago," Izzy started. "All we know was that portals opened up somehow, and I was able to keep track of them on my laptop."

"It is on that same laptop where you've discovered how to open a portal on your own now, is that correct, Koushiro Izumi?" the woman asked.

"Well…yes," Izzy replied with surprise. "How did you…"

The woman looked over to Matt, who was confused at first, but when T.K. knowingly looked to him, he sighed putting his head in his hands.

"The night I yelled at you, Izzy," Matt explained. "When you asked me about the key… and if I could go through the portal with Tai."

"Really, Izzy?" Sora looked at him with wonder. The plan originating with Izzy, Tai, and even Matt wasn't ever fully explained, and Sora was curious to learn more.

"That's right. I discovered was that we could open that portal, and that only two of us were able to go through. Of course, I couldn't be the second person, since I had to take care of the link on this side. So, that's where Matt stepped in."

"But that was until we found out about Agumon," Matt said, looking over to him again.

"We kept track of those portals, as well, throughout the years," the woman added. "We recognized the common link of those electromagnetic frequencies as they opened in our world, although we were never able to match and create it on our own… We believe that what we were missing all along were the codes left on your laptop, Izumi."

"I suppose that's likely…"

"So, Tai really has to go without the rest of us?" Kari said, looking worried now. "Will it be just him and Agumon?"

"Honestly, I had my heart set on going, too," Matt said, sadly. "We've been ready to go. But, Tai getting Agumon back there is much more important now."

"I'm sorry, guys," Tai said. Everyone turned to Tai, who had just now appeared at the door, leaving Agumon's room. To Sora, he looked as worn as ever, and avoiding everyone's stares. "I understand if you don't agree with this plan, now that you've heard it."

"I'm sure most of us would have liked to hear this beforehand," Joe said, crossing his arms.

"But, I understand, Tai," T.K. said. "I would put my hope in any one of us, and I'm glad it's you."

"Agumon would do much better with you along, anyway," Sora added, reassuringly, and there were nods from the others agreeing with her. Tai looked at her then, and she could see his worry fade away by just a little bit.

"There's another reason why I brought you here, Taichi," said the woman, now sounding more serious. "It's good that you're all here. As a military force defending our country, we've seen that the opening of these portals have brought nothing but danger to this world. We ask that you return your Digimon to his world, and that you stop any more portals from opening for good."

It was with this that Sora felt the tensions rise suddenly, including for her. She stood up, ready to protest. T.K., Kari, and Mimi all drew in short, sudden breaths, and Joe raised his hand, wanting to speak. But Matt and Izzy looked to each other, and then at Tai.

"I'm ready to do whatever it takes," Tai said, and Sora turned to look at him, her mouth slightly open. "Closing the connection between the two worlds… It's been what I've wanted to do from the start."

Everyone was quiet then, and Sora was too stunned to reply. Even with Biyomon gone, she never thought that she would never get to go back again. It was a part of her that she would have to say goodbye to forever. She wondered if the others felt the same.

"Fix things…" Kari said to Tai, and that brought Sora to a realization.

"Was that what you meant, Tai?" Sora asked. "When you said that…?" Tai nodded, and Sora drew in a slow breath.

So _that_ was his plan. No one else would have wanted this outcome—not even Tai himself. But if closing the portal to the Digital World meant protecting not only his friends, but the world from the risk of being attacked again…

Sora only stared at Tai. She wanted to slap him again, for hiding this from her and not telling her sooner. But, at the same time, she wanted to kiss him, ever so passionately, and do other things with him that she didn't want the others to see.

"There's something I'd like to ask," Joe said, turning to the woman, and Sora shook her head to ignore her sudden distraction. "You've been treating Agumon for this long, when everyone else saw him as just another monster. We were there when the soldiers attacked them all… You must've known all this time that there was a difference between the good monsters and the bad. So… why did you save him?"

"' _Keep him safe,'_ he said," replied a voice from behind Tai. It was the doctor who was in the same room as Tai earlier. "When we found him, that's what he said. _'Tai, and all of his friends. Keep them safe.'_ "

"Agumon…" said Mimi, holding her heart as she looked toward his direction.

"A monster that could speak our language and change forms," the woman added, "as well as have an emotional connection to a human being. We couldn't just let him die."

There was heavy silence in the room now, and Sora could only keep watch over Tai, who was looking back at his partner who looked at peace as he slept. What was he thinking about now…?

Then he looked at her, worried but certain, and then he looked at Izzy.

"We should open the portal as soon as we get back," Tai told everyone. They all looked at each other, nodding in agreement.

"Let's set up at that opening in the forest," said Izzy to Tai. "The place where the frequency was best."

"We'll take you back," said the woman. "And we'll bring Agumon along."

"Tai…" said Kari, taking her brother's hand. "I realize now that you've had your heart set to do this for a long time. When you get there, just be careful, okay?"

Tai gave her a soft smile. "I will, Kari."

No one else mentioned it, but Sora could see it, that past his smile there was fear hiding behind it.

* * *

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 **Author's Note:** Just popping in to say thanks for reading! I realize that there are some things in this fic that fall outside of Digimon lore, and there are things coming in the later chapters that you'll notice, too, like certain gadgets and other appearances :x But really, I just wrote what wanted to, and I appreciate you sticking with the story up until now! :) If you haven't noticed, this is the longest day for the digicrew, and here's a hint, _it's not over yet._ Until next time... ;)


	17. Chapter 17

**..CHASING THE SUN..**

 **.**

 **Through the Clouds - Part VII**

 _ **August 3, 20XX (afternoon)**_

The walk down the hall was another silent one among the group. Sora tried to think of something encouraging to say, but what she felt only matched what she could see in everyone's faces—they were all exhausted, and not to mention, worried with what was about to happen.

Two caravans pulled up before them as they reached the outside, the first one carrying Agumon. Sora approached Tai from behind.

"Go with him," she told Tai, though he didn't respond. It was then she realized he was frozen in place, staring at the van in front of them with hesitation.

"Tai?" she called, squeezing his shoulder. He snapped out of it then, and turned his head to her.

"I'll go," he said, walking away with a determined look in his eyes, as though he was still trying to hide his fear like he did before when walking into Agumon's room. Sora grabbed hold of his hand to stop him.

"Look, I know that there's a lot happening in a short amount of time, but just remember that I'm here for you. All of us are."

Sora then looked to the others, everyone looking on curiously. When she looked back at Tai, he gave her a small smile.

"I realize that now, Sora. I couldn't ask for anything more." There was a pause before Tai leaned forward to give her a kiss on her forehead. He climbed into the caravan, and when Sora joined the others afterward, her cheeks started to warm as they all had various expressions of disappointment.

"Shut up, you guys," Sora said, scowling.

The caravan ride back to the house with the others, however, wasn't any more encouraging.

"I can't believe Tai's going back to the DigiWorld," Mimi said with a sigh.

"He's going alone…" said Kari. "I'm worried."

"I am too, Kari," Sora said, seeing T.K. hold Kari's hand in comfort. "But we all know this has to happen."

Sora didn't know what else to say to her friends, knowing she was anticipating going back the beach house as much as they all were.

As soon as the caravan parked at the back of the beach house, Matt and Izzy ran inside quickly. Before Sora could exit the van, she heard a loud cry, and turned to see that Kari had burst into tears. T.K. was rubbing her shoulder and Mimi was on her other side, holding her hand. Guilt quickly came over her—how could she not have noticed how Kari was really feeling?

"I'll see if Matt and Izzy need help," said Joe as he passed by Sora on his way out. "I'll come back to check on the rest of you."

Kari only cried harder when Sora went back in to sit across from her.

"Why does it have to be now?!" Kari cried angrily. "I'm scared of what might happen!"

"We just have to trust him, Kari," Sora said, trying to soothe her.

"Come on, Kari," said T.K., attempting to comfort her, too. "Tai can do anything. I'm sure he'll figure it out."

"Didn't you see that he was scared, too?" Kari asked, looking at him, then at Mimi who looked just as worried. "Didn't you? Sora, don't tell me you didn't see it, either!"

"Oh, Kari…" Sora sat there, knowing there wasn't anything she could counterargue.

"I didn't want to lose Gatomon! But now he's going and—and—"

It was the one thing that Sora didn't want to fear, either… yet trying to comfort Kari was only making herself feel worse.

"How do we know he'll be okay in the end?" Kari continued crying. "How do we know that it'll all work out?"

"It will," said Izzy.

Everyone turned to the door, where Izzy was standing, hugging his laptop bag in front of him. Matt stood behind him, carrying a rucksack.

"I'm confident the portal is going to work," he continued, "and that Tai will know what to do when he gets to the DigiWorld."

"The three of us made sure that Tai and I were prepared for anything in the DigiWorld," added Matt, holding up the rucksack.

"Tai hasn't been the best at telling us things," said Mimi, "but he wouldn't just jump into the DigiWorld without any sort of plan."

"See, Kari?" T.K. said. "It's just like Sora said—we just have to trust him. Right, Sora?"

"Right…" Sora said, although now uncertainty was something she couldn't escape.

* * *

By the time Kari calmed down a little and everyone exited the caravan, Joe had returned carrying a duffel bag and a bottled water, which he handed to Kari to drink, along with tissues. Matt and Izzy then led them down the path to the area where they would open the portal—where Tai, Agumon, and the military crew were now.

Sora wondered what Tai was thinking right about now. The day wasn't even over, but he found out that Agumon survived, albeit barely, and was now about to take him back to the DigiWorld to save him, as well as fulfill his original plan to potentially save the entire world. There really was fear in his eyes—why wouldn't there be?

And the others… Sora looked over to Matt and Izzy in front of them—she couldn't see their faces at all. Kari's head was down, as though she wanted to hide her tear-stained face. T.K. was walking next to her with a frown, and Mimi walked behind them, watching them both with concern. If there was any way for her to help ease their minds at this very moment—

"Sora," said Joe, just as he waved a wrapped energy bar in front of her face. Sora blinked in surprise after snapping out of her thoughts. "There was a growl, and I trust Mimi and her family's sense of location that there are no monsters in this forest."

"It _is_ getting close to dinner time," Mimi said, and Sora realized she was now holding her own bar. "None of us have eaten all day."

Sora grabbed the bar, unwrapped it and took a bite, watching Joe as he went around to everyone else to offer food. It was enough for her to recognize that Joe knew she was under stress again, and that she needed strength to carry on for her friends, and most especially, for herself.

It wasn't long before they reached the clearing of the forest path—where a handful of men and women in military uniforms gathered in a circle. She saw the hairbun-wearing military woman as well as the doctor they met earlier standing among them. As they all ran closer, they discovered Tai was kneeling on the ground in the middle of that circle, his head down with his arms wrapped around Agumon, tubes now off but still wearing the bandage around him. He looked paler than he did earlier that day.

"Tai… Agumon…" Sora exhaled as the four of them slowed to a stop in front of the crowd.

"Stay awake, Agumon," Tai said, sounding unusually calm. "You'll be home soon."

"He's fading quickly," the doctor said with great urgency.

As Sora observed Joe sprinting past her toward Tai to give him food, she felt a nudge at her side.

"Sora," Matt called. She looked at what he was holding in front of her, and nearly gasped. It was something she hadn't seen in a very long time.

"How did you…?" she began, and Matt smiled, placing it in her hand.

"Izzy snuck it into his bag back at Tai's house. Be sure to give it to Tai."

"We don't know how long this will even take," Izzy said to her and Matt when he approached them. "Time passes differently there. He could be in and out in a few hours' time."

Sora had forgotten about the time difference between worlds. She wanted to respond, but then Izzy suddenly went past her and Matt to get to Tai, who was now crouching in front of Agumon, watching over him with great care.

"The laptop is on," Izzy told him. "Are you ready?" Tai looked to him, taking a deep breath.

"As ready as I'll ever be," he replied.

He did look it, but still…

Izzy took a breath just as big, then Sora saw him hand the rucksack that Matt was carrying earlier. "Your things are in here, he said, "plus the other items, for, you know, defense."

"Right," Tai replied, then Izzy hurried back to his laptop. She turned to look at Tai wanting to make sure she talked to him before he left. There were so many things she wanted to tell him—

"Tai!" came a shout from behind her. Kari ran past her with T.K. following behind, throwing her arms around Tai when she reached him.

"I was hoping it wasn't so soon," she said through her tears. Tai held her back and patted her head.

"I'll be back before you know it, Kari," he said. Then T.K. moved to hug him, and Mimi soon after, Tai responding with a warm embrace for each of them.

The sun lowered in the sky as though wanting to escape into the night. Sora felt as though the moment to talk to him was escaping her. Sora gripped at the item enclosed in her hand. Was he even going to talk to her? After all those times she tried to get him to open up to her, after all those tears…Was it even worth talking to him now?

"Take care of yourself over there," Sora heard Joe telling Tai before they hugged, and then Izzy began to shout:

"The portal's opening! Tai, it's time for you to go!"

It was. It was worth it.

"No…" Sora said watching Izzy's fingers moved across his keyboard before hearing a loud tap of a button, and a burst of a new light that appeared before them all. The portal had opened, showing only a swirl of a bright white, with electrical charges surrounding its oval shape. A rush of wind blew against them all. Tai turned to Agumon, helping him stand up, then looked at the portal as he held hands with him.

Sora's heart dropped, her eyes watering as Tai's back was towards her. He was going to leave her, once again, without saying another word…

Just then, Tai looked down at Agumon, who looked up at him with a nod, and they both let go of each other.

"Sora," Tai said, turning around to face her. He dropped his rucksack next to Agumon and started towards her, making Izzy yelp in panic, holding his head with his hands. Sora was too stunned to say anything and only walked towards Tai, feeling her hair blowing back from the wind. "Sora," he said again, more gently when they were face to face. "How are you?"

She looked at him, appalled. "How _am I_?" she asked through her shaken voice. "Baka! You shouldn't be worrying about me of all people, of all times!" Warm streams of tears rolled down her cheeks as she placed her palms on either side of his face. "You're the one we're all worried about," she continued, trying to calm herself down. "I'm putting on a brave face, but I know it just as everyone else does—I'm scared for you."

"It's alright, Sora," he said, letting out a small laugh. "I've been putting on a brave face for months."

It was then, as Sora caressed his cheek with the red mark, that she noticed it was damp—not from her tears, but from his own.

"Tai…" she said, startled. "Tai, you're…"

She couldn't believe it. Tai was finally crying.

"I'm scared as hell, Sora," he said, more tears slowly escaping from his eyes. "I know what I have to do, but I don't know what might happen to Agumon, or what might happen to me. Can I even do this alone?"

At first, Sora looked at him with disbelief as she watched him cry in front of her, then, realizing that he was suddenly opening up to her in the heat of the moment, she could only look in with helplessness.

"Tai," Sora pulled him in to hold him tightly, closing her eyes, though she was now smiling. "You won't be alone. None of us can go with you through that portal, as much as we want to. But we'll still be with you." Her heart was pounding, and she can feel it—so was his. "Listen, Tai—can you feel that?"

"I can."

"Just remember that. We're always with you, as sure as your heart beating in your chest."

As Tai held her more tightly, they heard Izzy yell again.

"The portal isn't going to be open forever!" he exclaimed, making them pull apart. Sora suddenly remembered what Matt handed to her earlier.

"I can't let you go without giving you this," she said. She held the item up to his face, and he stared in shock, his mouth opened but no words escaping. There was no mistaking the pair of its large, circular lenses.

"My goggles…" he breathed in surprise.

"You're going to need it, seeing as you're about to embark on another adventure…" she said, helping him hold his hair as he put it on like he always did. As she straightened some stray hairs and wiped his leftover tears, she couldn't help but giggle, remembering the curious, silly stare that he was giving her now was a look he had always given her years ago with those same goggles sticking out from his head.

"Oy! Get a move on, Tai!" Matt yelled out. Sora then noticed the sun was now lowering closer and closer to the horizon, the sky darkening with bold hues ranging from orange to blue and purple. She couldn't hold him back any longer; it was time to let him go on.

"You and Agumon should get going then," Sora said, looking over at Agumon, who was watching them with a smile.

"Not just yet, Sora," Tai said, taking her hand. "It's my turn now."

"What do you mean?" she asked as he drew nearer.

"I can't leave without giving you this."

Before she knew it, his lips were already on hers, soft to the touch but strong and passionate, and his arms wrapped around her as he caught her by surprise. She leaned against him and kissed back, not wanting his lips to ever part with hers. When they did, Tai only moved to sneak in one more kiss, then pressed his forehead against hers.

"I'll come back to you," he said, their eyes locked one last time before he headed back to Agumon. Sora caught her breath as she watched him pick up his rucksack and take Agumon's hand.

"He's so romantic," Mimi said breathlessly, approaching Sora and resting her chin on Sora's shoulder. " _So_ much better than what he did earlier."

"Leave it to him to try to make up at the last minute," Matt said, hands on his hips.

The others slowly appeared around her, one by one, with Kari standing at Sora's other side. Tai took a deep breath and exhale, about to set foot through the portal. He turned to look at everyone, then at Sora again. She saw in his eyes what he truly felt; he was afraid of what he was about to walk into, but at the same time, resolute in what he set out to do. Sora's heart was full.

And then, he turned to look ahead, and together with Agumon they went onward through the portal; and in an instant, the portal shrank from existence, only to have a large door appear in front of them.

The sun had gone down, leaving them all under the fresh night sky. It was dead silent, the wind stopped, though the door still had a faint glow surrounding it.

"What happens now?" T.K. asked.

"Well, we wait for Tai to open the door from the other side," Matt replied.

"Hours, you said?" Sora asked Izzy.

"Hours," he repeated.

Sora felt Kari lean close to her, gripping her hand tightly. She held it tightly back knowing it just as well as Kari and everyone else did—that these next few hours were going to feel like an eternity.

* * *

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 **Author's Note:** Well?! :)

It took a while to figure out how and when to get Tai to finally cry in this fic. So, I'm happy with how it turned out. Also, Taiora. :)))))))))

Guess where we're going next chapter... ;)

So many obnoxious emojis..

Until next time! Thanks again for reading! xx


	18. Chapter 18: BENEATH A DIFFERENT SKY

**..CHASING THE SUN..**

 **.**

* * *

 **..BENEATH A DIFFERENT SKY..  
(18-21)**

 _Let him glow above another place, for him to shine brighter when he returns_

Tai uncovers the true reasons behind the attacks, and finally sets his plan in motion.

* * *

 **Beneath a Different Sky - Part I**

 _ **DigiWorld - ?**_

It only took a step through the white space, and Tai was swept off his feet.

A burst of wind had blasted him forward, making him cry out, grabbing hold of Agumon as he prepared to fall—but to his surprise, they were floating, maybe even flying through this space. For a few moments, there appeared to be no end in sight; only bits of colorful sparks streaking past before disappearing as broken pixels. Below him, Tai could only see what looked like black wires twisted and woven together, and appeared to go on forever.

Before long, an oval shape appeared in the distance, just as it did in the forest. He had an inkling that they would be arriving soon. Tai pulled Agumon close and held him as they flew, eyes open in anticipation as the oval grew closer and bigger, and then…

"Agumon?"

"Yes, Tai?"

"We're here."

Tai looked around. The air was different from just a moment ago, and it smelled strongly of soil and dewy grass. He could tell it was daytime, as the sunlight spilled through the leaves of the looming trees over him and Agumon. Although it was quiet, Tai felt a rush of nostalgia standing there.

He couldn't believe it. He was back in the Digital World.

The large oval opening they had just entered through disappeared as soon as they set foot on the ground. When Tai felt the weight of the bag he carried on his shoulders, he quickly steered away from nostalgia and remembered that he came to this world to close the portal.

He just needed to figure out how to do it.

Tai looked over to Agumon, whom he noticed had gained enough strength to stand up straighter on his own without support. The color on Agumon's skin was returning. The feeling of surprise and relief washed over him, seeing that his friend no longer suffering.

"It's great to be back, isn't it?" Tai asked him, however, he looked alert, and he was examining their surroundings.

"Something's not right," Agumon said then.

"What is it?" Tai asked, and Agumon's nostrils flared.

"We have to move, Tai. We aren't safe here."

From the corner of his eye, Tai noticed rustling in the bushes. Turning toward it, he realized a few pairs of eyes were watching them. Slowly, they appeared from behind the bushes and trees, although cautiously.

Tai kept on his guard, about to step back, but Agumon held his arm up as though to stop him.

"In-Training Digimon," Agumon said. "It's not them—Something else is coming."

A loud boom was heard from afar. Tai quickly turned to the direction it came from, and all the In-Training quickly disappeared from view. Another boom came, then another.

"It's coming closer," said Tai, hearing the booms faster and louder. Together with Agumon, he found a fallen tree trunk for them to take cover under.

He waited in bated breath as the booms stopped, and heavy footsteps fell along the ground near them. The footsteps stopped then, and Tai heard a low growl, followed by the footsteps inching closer.

Through a hole in the tree trunk, he could see the scaly yellow skin of a monster, with metal, spiky armor on its tail as well as on its shoulder. Its brown helmet covered his eyes, but its long, sharp teeth was bared to show off to its prey.

Tai gulped as he saw its eyes carefully search the trunk from the other side; and as it met Tai's wide-eyed stare through the hole, he knew that he was no exception.

" _Move, Agumon!"_ he yelled, grabbing him and jumping out from the trunk before it was clawed into pieces. Quickly, he got up, making sure Agumon was alright, but he was already standing in front of Tai, taking a deep breath and igniting a flame from his throat. He was attempting to attack.

But the flame fizzled out before Agumon could breathe it out. Tai could see he was still too weak.

They had to get out of there, _fast_. Before he thought to run, Tai flung his rucksack from over his shoulders, remembering what he, Matt, and Izzy had come up with in times like this. He threw his hand into his bag, hastily rummaging through it until he felt his hand grasp a sturdy, spherical shape.

 _Bingo_ , he thought, as the monster leapt toward them. He pulled out two of them and quickly aimed them at the monster's head. The sphere-shaped objects exploded as they collided against its face, throwing it backward.

Together, Tai and Agumon turned to run away, but not before Tai pulled out a small bag of from his rucksack and threw it against the ground, creating an explosion of black dust that covered beyond anyone's eyes could see. That Digimon— _Did he know we were coming?_ he wondered as they ran through the bushes and trees. They heard the monster roar as each running step boomed closely behind, knocking trees down as it ran past. All Tai could focus on was getting him and Agumon to safety. But just as he took a quick look at his surroundings, he realized they were running straight into a dead end.

They stopped just before they could crash into the rock wall. There were no edges on the rocks to climb up and over, no way out other than past the growling Digimon that now had them cornered. _This is no time to be afraid,_ Tai thought to himself, heart beating fast, and took a step forward.

"Why are you after us?" Tai asked the Digimon, who only replied with a growl louder than before.

"I guess he doesn't like to talk much," Agumon whispered to Tai.

The Digimon let out a long and loud roar, swiping at Tai before he could jump out of the way. He groaned as he fell back onto the ground, his head narrowly missing the rock wall behind him.

"Tai!" Agumon cried out as Tai struggled to get back up, feeling pieces of rock and dirt fall from all over.

The monster roared, stomping away from Tai and now inches away from his friend.

"Run…Agumon…" Tai croaked.

Suddenly, the monster was thrown against the rock wall, its pieces crumbling over him as he fell to the ground in surprise. Tai was able to gather strength back to sit up and see a new Digimon was standing in front of him and Agumon. Its back faced them as he stood with his large, clenched fists, but Tai recognized his mane and tail of a beast, his human-like muscular body, and the golden earring on his left ear.

"Leomon…" Tai said, taken aback. The other Digimon was now face down and unconscious. "How did you…What are you…"

"We have no time," said Leomon, standing strong and mighty. "We should leave before this mon regains consciousness. You and Agumon must come with me. Both of our worlds depend on it."

* * *

Not a sound came from Leomon until he led them into a cave deep in the jungle. Judging by the campfire in the middle of the ground and a few torches lined up along the wall, Tai could tell that this cave was used as a hideout many times before.

"Here, some food for your strength," Leomon said, handing Tai and Agumon each a bowl with what looked like a type of porridge. Agumon grabbed it immediately, inhaling every bite with eagerness. Tai laughed at him.

"Take it easy, Agumon," he said, but he couldn't blame him. He must have missed eating this after being fed human medicine for so long.

As Tai took a few bites from his bowl, Leomon sat with them around the campfire and watched them both.

"I had a feeling you would show up after all that has happened," Leomon began. "Our worlds remain connected, and news travels fast. I heard about the other chosen partners. This world has truly suffered a great loss…"

"And so has ours," Tai said gravely, feeling a tightness in his heart. Leomon remained stone-faced.

"You must have many questions, young Tai," he said. "You too, Agumon. I must apologize for being so hasty back then."

"Hasty?" Tai asked. Leomon adjusted his sitting position, crossing his legs and straightening his back.

"The Digital World had been at peace for many, many years since we last saw you and the others, Tai. I have remained a guardian of this peace, standing watch on the highest mountaintop, day after day. It was easy living harmoniously in this world.

"Then, I started hearing words being uttered that I had not heard for the longest time. There was a mention of the Chosen Ones. At first, they were rumors, whispers, murmurs passing from Digimon to Digimon. To my neglect, I ignored them, and continued my duty to watch this world, to watch the mountains and lakes and the skies, and to make sure there was no trouble.

"One day as I was standing watch, I saw the sky flash with no strike of lightning, but holes of light were opening up anywhere my eyesight could take me. I wanted my eyes to deceive me from Digimon that had come out of hiding and were attacking others before going into the light, and that my ears were tricking me into hearing these vicious roars and terrifying screams.

"But those words from before only confirmed my fears: They were after you and your world, Tai."

Tai gaped at Leomon in horror as he took in every word of his story. As he recounted those days in his head, he couldn't find the words to react with after learning the events in the Digital World beforehand.

A tap was heard, and Tai saw that Agumon quietly placed his now empty bowl on the ground.

"You can't put the blame on yourself, Leomon," Agumon said. "You were quick with your actions, and even when there was not a lot to go on, you let all of us know right away. We got to our friends quickly, and we protected them as best as we could."

Leomon sighed at that.

"I wish I could have figured this out sooner," Leomon said.

Tai was about to say something in protest, then stopped.

 _It's not your fault,_ he remembered Sora say. Remembering this, Tai chuckled, making Leomon and Agumon turn to him with curiosity.

"I was blaming myself for what happened, too, Leomon," he explained. "I drowned in my own sorrow, thinking that we lost them all because of what I decided. We can't change the things we can't control in the end—we can only do what we feel is right in the situation in front of us."

"That's the Tai I know!" Agumon said cheerfully, and Leomon smiled warmly at him.

"Thank you, Tai," Leomon said. "There is one more thing the two of you must know, however, I don't want to trouble you too much."

"What are you talking about, Leomon—?"

Tai then heard his stomach growl, and remembered the bowl of porridge still in his hands. He had forgotten about it after being sucked into Leomon's story. Then, before the last few bites, he felt his eyelids growing heavier.

He was confused by the sunlight outside but realized how long he had been awake, and just how much happened since that morning in the real world. Leomon must have observed just how exhausted he was, and had already prepared him a blanket and pillow for him to rest. There was too much to process, too much to think over. The next thing he knew, he had fallen against the pillow, drifting off to sleep in an instant.

* * *

When Tai awoke, both Leomon and Agumon were in their own spots inside the cave, sleeping soundly. The cave opening showed that night had passed in the Digital World, and it appeared to be morning. It was silent outside, and there were no signs of any pending danger.

How long did he sleep, anyway? Tai sat up, feeling more refreshed than he ever felt in the last few months. He moved his arms to stretch, but stopped as his hand hit the rucksack. Aside from his speedy thinking before, he hadn't looked at its contents since Izzy prepared it with him and Matt at the beach house. While the other two were resting, he figured he could look them over now, thinking back to when Izzy first showed him these items.

The first thing he dug out from the bag were a few small contraptions, each shaped like a pyramid, wrapped in opaque film with a string hanging underneath.

" _Shock traps,"_ he remembered Izzy telling him. _"Can't go into that world unarmed. These can be put on the ground and set to paralyze whatever Digimon might be heading your way."_

Digging more from the bag, he found pouches filled with a gray substance that he could throw against the ground to create smoke screens, as well as more of those sturdy, spherical objects that he used on the Digimon earlier.

" _These weren't hard to help Izzy make,"_ Matt had said when Izzy held them up. It amazed him, thinking about all that Izzy had been making during his free time.

And then, he took out a rectangular item that was about the size of his forearm. The lump caught in his throat was there, just as it was when Izzy first showed it to him.

" _Are you sure you didn't just take that apart from your desktop computer?"_ Tai had asked. _"It looks like the thing for computer memory."_

" _It certainly looks like it, but it's not RAM,"_ replied Izzy. _"I did some research and made this with material that would counteract with the energy you'd find within a portal."_

" _So…it's a bomb, then?"_

" _That's right. Think of the two worlds being connected by wires. Throwing this as you leave the portal would blast through those wires, splice them and burn them apart."_

" _Destroying the connection…"_

" _Precisely. This should close any and all portals for good."_

The black wiring in the portal…

He heard Agumon yawn, and looked to see him and Leomon stirring. To think that saying goodbye to them, to this world was fast approaching…

"I know your task, Tai," Leomon told him then as he sat up from his slumber. "All of the Digital World knows. You plan to break the connection between our world and yours."

Tai bit his lip, trying to mask the pain in his heart over this. Leomon was straight-faced.

"There's only one known portal that had been sealed on that day of the attacks. I can take you and Agumon there."

"Thanks, Leomon."

Wanting to leave it out of his mind for just a moment, Tai started putting all the items back into the rucksack, but noticing that one more thing had fallen out—a device shaped like a pen, with a button clicker at its tip.

" _Tai, are you even paying attention?"_ came Izzy's voice in his memory. _"This will be important while we're in separate worlds, you know."_

"Everyone…" he whispered.

He had been so out of his mind during Izzy's explanations, but staring at this device in retrospect only made him extremely grateful that he had it now. He clicked the button, wondering what his friends were doing on the other side.

* * *

 _ **August 3, 20XX (evening)**_

An hour had passed since the door had closed before them, and they all knew there was no way for them to open it again from their side.

It took Sora a few minutes before bringing forth the idea that they should camp out in that area as they waited for Tai. The military personnel set up a canopy to set up their station and rest area for the group, as well as a place for Izzy to set his laptop. Matt and Joe brought blankets and pillows from the house, but Matt paused on his way there to scold T.K. for fiddling with the door any further than he had been. He then ordered T.K. to go with Mimi to help bring food and bottled water and tea.

Sora sat next to Kari over a blanket all the while, who seemed more nervous than she was. She listened to Izzy explaining to the personnel exactly what they had equipped Tai with for his journey. Smoke screens…? Bombs…? Did he just say _RAM…_?

It astounded her just how much Tai and Izzy had gone through together, all without anyone else knowing. After all that time trying to get it out of him. After all that time, chasing him…

Sora looked up at the sky again. Although it was a starry night, she thought back to trying to catch the racing sun.

"What are you thinking about, Sora?" Kari asked, looking at her with her wide, curious brown eyes. They were just like his. "You've been looking up there a lot lately."

"I don't know if I understand it myself, to be honest," she said. "I just think of Tai when I look up there. He's like the sun. he's just been so hard to reach."

"Hmm." Kari looked down, putting her fingers to her lips as she thought. "That's been true for all of us, but never for you." Sora tilted her head to the side.

"What do you mean?"

"You mean more to him than you know. I bet he would still be sitting in his room tonight playing _Time Warriors_ if you hadn't been there for him. You might think you don't get through to him, but you do, because you're Sora—you're _his sky_. The sun can't shine on its own in the day, and even at night, a star won't glow without it. That's you."

"Kari…"

Sora never thought of it that way, and was at a loss at just how to respond.

Suddenly, she heard Izzy gasp from behind his laptop.

"Guys!" he said. "It's Tai! He's okay!"

Sora immediately jumped from the blanket and rushed over to Izzy's side. His laptop screen had a window open, showing a flashing green light against a black screen.

"I created a device that he could use to signal us when he's in the Digital World. We don't have a map or anything to see where he is, but this signal is a good sign!"

"Tai!" Kari said with relief, leaning over Izzy's shoulders as she looked at the light.

Sora, and she felt a hand on her own shoulder. She turned and saw Mimi giving her a smile, squeezing her shoulder in comfort. Matt appeared next to Mimi, handing them each a bag of chips.

"He'll find his way back," Matt said. "He always does."

With Kari's words now instilled in her mind, Sora believed it now more than ever.

* * *

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 **Author's Note:** I was playing a lot of Horizon Zero Dawn on PS4 while writing this, so those traps and bombs were inspired by those.  
I think I'll be posting this on Sundays and Wednesdays until it's complete.  
Until next time, thanks for reading!


	19. Chapter 19

**..CHASING THE SUN..**

 **.**

 **Beneath a Different** **Sky - P** **art II**

 _ **DigiWorld - ?**_

There was an explosion outside, and the whole cave rumbled, knocking the pen device out of Tai's hand and back into the bag. Tai turned to Leomon immediately, who had gotten up swiftly from his slumber.

"He found us," he said darkly.

"Not that Digimon from earlier?" Agumon asked, and Leomon shook his head.

"No, this one is a much stronger Digimon."

There was something about the way Leomon said it that sent a chill of fear down Tai's spine. Agumon only stood taller.

"He has been waiting for your return, Agumon, and he would have acted quickly as soon as he felt your presence."

"Leomon, tell us," Tai said, curling his fingers into a fist. "Tell us why the attacks happened. Why they're after Agumon now."

"I learned this shortly after you and the others left, Agumon—the reason why you were targeted," Leomon explained. "The Digimon that tried entering the real world, and those that followed you afterward. It came to light that they did not enjoy the current state of peace in this world. They believed it was the Chosen Ones who destroyed their world, so it was only right to do the same to yours."

"No way…" Tai's breath was caught in his throat, not knowing how to make sense of what he was hearing.

"This Digimon has been lying in wait, gathering its strength and hatred." Leomon said, turning to Tai. "He was the only one we were able to stop from entering the portal, which is the sealed portal I will be taking you to. But now that it knows you're here, it will try to stop you from destroying the portal, Tai. It will try to destroy you and Agumon, and it will try to enter the portal itself."

Tai realized his hands were up in front of him, balled into fists. His body reacted before he realized, but he was convinced.

"We're not going to let this happen," he said.

The ground rumbled again, and the three of them lifted their heads up, exchanging glances.

"We have to hurry now, Tai," Agumon said, appearing now to have more energy than Tai had seen.

"Follow me," Leomon said, and Tai grabbed his bag, following behind both Leomon and Agumon out of the cave.

* * *

Tai, Agumon, and Leomon were crouching low as they moved quickly through the bushes. Rumbles continued as they headed in one direction, Leomon leading the way. The monster was still following them.

As they moved deeper into the jungle, Tai suddenly heard loud spurts of electric shock that reverberated throughout, followed by a thunderous ground-shaking.

"Ha! Way to go, Izzy!" Tai exclaimed, not realizing how powerful those shock traps were going to be.

"Good thinking, Tai!" Agumon said. "That'll hold him off for a while!"

They now stood themselves up, breaking into a run to move even faster. They were already running a while, and Tai was starting to slow his pace. The other two slowed their pace with him.

"I know your task is not an easy one," Leomon said as they ran. Tai raised his eyebrows and continued to listen. "Many wish that you not close the link between worlds, including myself."

The grave expression on Leomon's face made Tai frown.

"But as a guardian of peace, I know this is the best decision in your heart and mind. I see that both of our worlds will be safer because of it. I would do the same. It's hard, but I know your heart is strong, Tai."

As difficult as it was to think of the things to come, Tai found himself agreeing with Leomon's words. Doing this was for the good of his friends, keeping them from harm's way, and running toward his goal with Leomon and Agumon only made him believe in it even more.

"Tai! Your pocket!" Agumon cried out. Tai looked below and saw that his pocket was glowing. It was his digivice, glowing and vibrating. Slowing to a stop, he took it out of his pocket and held it in the palm of his hand.

It happened in a flash. Agumon was suddenly glowing as bright as the screen of his digivice, his form quickly morphing— _evolving_ —into a larger being, before their very eyes. When he no longer glowed, his orange skin now had part stripes of blue, and he donned a brown helmet with a spike at the nose.

"What… _Greymon_?!" Tai shouted in surprise, and Greymon bared a spikey-toothed grin.

"Hop on, Tai," he growled as they ran. "We can move more quickly." Tai grinned back, happy to see his friend stronger than ever, then laughed before hopping onto Greymon's back.

"You could've just said I was too slow."

* * *

The air turned colder the further Leomon and Greymon ran, and as the day went on, the scenery became less green and more covered in white. He was glad that he thought to pack clothes for any climate, and took out his heavy jacket to wear, protecting himself from the icy breeze rushing against him.

"It's still a long ways ahead," Leomon said.

The two Digimon sprinted through the snowy landscape showing no signs of fatigue. It was only when a heap of snow burst in front of them that made them halt in their tracks.

Tai raised himself to look from behind Greymon's head. That blast came out of nowhere, it seemed, though they all stood their ground, alert, knowing they were not alone.

A group of rookie monsters slowly came into view, surrounding them in the middle of the flat terrain. As Tai scanned their faces, he sensed they were not going to let them pass easily.

"Hold on tight, Tai," Greymon grunted, before three of the monsters pounced forward and Tai grabbed a hold of Greymon's neck, feeling the rush of his partner jumping backward.

"They're trying to stall us!" Leomon growled, throwing his fist at a few monsters, making them fly backward. More of them jumped onto him, making him fall to the ground.

Just then, Tai was heading toward the ground, as the rest of the pack had shot onto Greymon as he toppled over. He cried out and jumped off before hitting the ground, scraping his palms and knees when he landed.

As he hurried to get up and turned around, he saw his two friends struggling to rid of the numerous attackers. He reached into his backpack and flung the circle bombs from each of his hands, which sent those little monsters flying off from his friends.

He then ran toward Greymon, who was now shooting flames towards the other monsters, knocking them unconscious.

"We don't have time for this!" Leomon exclaimed, with a loud roar that left the remaining monsters paralyzed in fear. Tai hopped onto Greymon's back and they all set foot towards the valley once again. One more monster persisted, dashing behind Greymon, ready to pounce.

Tai had a shock trap ready in hand, pulling the string to activate it, and launched it at the monster with a direct hit. He watched as the monster lay on the ground, only moving as it twitched from the shock waves.

As the distance between them and the paralyzed monster grew, it became clearer that they were safe again, for the time being. Tai's shoulders relaxed, and he let out a heavy sigh.

"You alright back there, Tai?" Greymon asked.

"Never been better, buddy," he said. Still, even as that monster now donning a shock trap became a small black dot in a sea of white snow, the ground wasn't rumbling, and there were no signs of the bigger monster anywhere. Perhaps he had already caught up with them, even though it would be hard to sneak up on them from this flat, snowy terrain. _Why did it bother him so much?_ It kept him alert, knowing that somehow, the monster would still catch up to them.

* * *

Over the next few days, however, no threats were imminent throughout their trek. Past the arctic land, they travelled across grassy green hills before entering a barren desert. Tai had already packed his warm clothing away, though felt the hot, sandy air blow against him. Fortunately, it was a short travel through the desert, although every step, every bullet of sweat dripping down his face and his body made it seem like it lasted forever.

By the time the three of them were back in lush, green landscape, they found a tree to sit under to shade themselves from the sun. There was a mountain stream nearby, where both Leomon and Agumon, who had de-volved along the way, rushed to catch a drink. Tai took out his water bottle and drank in gulps, then joined them at the stream to re-fill before walking further.

When night fell, they found a cavern filled with different types of fresh Digimon, who encouraged them all to stay with them until daybreak. Tai sat at the campfire, removing his goggles from his head and letting them hang around his neck. He took out an energy bar from his backpack to eat, and offered another to Agumon and Leomon each. As soon as he took a bite, he noticed pairs of curious eyes surrounding him.

"I bet you guys would love to try some of this," said Tai, breaking off pieces of the bar and placing them onto his palm. The Digimon bounced toward his hand excitedly as he lowered it to them, happily munching at the pieces.

"Mmm! I like this flavor!" Agumon said cheerfully. "It tastes like strawberries!"

"It's Sora's favorite," Tai said with a smile.

Soon after, the freshies were slowly drifting off to sleep, and Tai decided with Agumon to sit at the cavern entrance to keep watch, just in case. It was just as Tai remembered—having no monsters in sight would lead Agumon to ask odd questions about human things and the human world.

"You haven't changed at all," Agumon said, "When you smile about Sora."

Tai felt his face redden. He knew he was thinking all the way back to the time he and the others adventured into the Digital World.

"She's special to me, Agumon," he replied. "I…"

Tai hesitated at first, but knowing that he was sitting next to someone he would trust his life with, he became comfortable enough to confide in him.

"I love her." Agumon looked toward him.

"You actually admit it this time! You've grown so much, Tai."

Tai laughed nervously. "I'm not so sure about that."

"I am. I can tell, and it makes me very happy."

Tai looked to Agumon who looked back with a grin. Then, he turned the other way to look up at the starlit sky, knowing Sora would try to say something just as encouraging. Somehow, it made him feel better the more he thought about her; her words, her laughter, her smile…

He only wished he didn't have to hurt her so much.

"Tai?"

Tai blinked, to see Sora in front of him. She was standing, hovering over him with her hands behind her back, watching him as though she had been waiting for him to notice her.

"S-Sora?!" he stammered. He looked next to him, seeing Agumon leaning against him as he snored in his slumber. _Did she hear anything he said just now?_

"Why are you so shocked?" she asked, raising her eyebrow. "It's my and Biyomon's turn to be lookout."

Biyomon appeared at her side with her big, blue eyes staring.

"Are you okay, Tai?" Sora asked him. "You're white as a ghost."

Tai was confused at first, but then he noticed what Sora was wearing—a yellow, sleeveless top, jeans and her blue string hat on her head. Behind her, the rest of the gang, all in their summer camp attire, surrounded the campfire in the cavern, all asleep with their Digimon next to them.

"I'm—I'm fine…" he said, knowing even with his best efforts it sounded unconfidently.

"You seem really tense," Sora said, now taking a closer look at him and looking concerned. "You didn't have to keep watch for this long."

"I'm okay, Sora, really," he said, slowly getting up and stretching his arms out as he yawned. "You're right though, I'm pooped! I'll get some rest."

"Good."

Sora kept watching him as he lightly shook Agumon's shoulder to wake him.

"You're still worried, aren't you?" she asked. "About that Digimon that's after you and Agumon. The one Leomon talked about."

Tai looked back at her, surprised and confused again.

"He hasn't shown himself yet, but I know he's out there, and he's following us," he told her. "And when he shows up, we'll all be ready to face him. We'll battle it out, and I then I can get through the portal. I know what I have to do, I just…"

Agumon let out a sigh, interrupting Tai and causing him and Sora to look over as he dropped to the ground, snoring a little louder. Tai wanted to laugh, but knowing what lay ahead only made him sadder.

"When this is all over, we'll never see this world again, and Agumon…"

Tai felt Sora's hand on his shoulder.

"I can't imagine never seeing this world again…" she said in a somber tone. "But I don't think we should worry about that right now. Not that we should avoid thinking about it, but worrying about the end makes you lose sight of what's happening right in front of you, right? It's just as bothersome as dwelling in all the things you've done in the past."

"Wow, Sora," he said, feeling those words sting. "You really had to go there, didn't you?"

"I'm just telling it like it is, Tai. My point is, Agumon's still here now, isn't he? Your Digimon is still with you, and we're still in the DigiWorld. Whatever happens will happen, but you'll always have the moment you're living in right now."

She patted his shoulder again before walking toward Agumon who was sprawled onto the ground. Dream or not, it was the Sora he knew that was talking to him. Biyomon joined her in waking up Agumon, while Tai watched them, pondering Sora's words. Then, Agumon sat up suddenly, shaking his head.

"Agumon, let's get with the others to rest up," said Tai, yawning again. "We should call it a night."

"I'm with ya, Tai," he said, dragging his feet towards him as Sora and Biyomon looked on. Tai smiled and shook his head at Agumon, though now feeling especially grateful for it.

"Thanks, Sora," Tai said, his mood now increasingly better, to which she smiled at cheerfully.

"I'm happy you talked it out with me," she said.

Tai walked with Agumon toward the campfire, finding an empty spot to lay in. As soon as Tai lay on the ground and closed his eyes, he heard his name being called again.

A hand was placed on his shoulder. Opening his eyes, he saw that he was looking at Leomon, who was kneeling next to him. He still sat against the cavern entrance, though it was now daybreak, with Agumon stirring next to him, and the fresh Digimon sound asleep around the now fizzling campfire.

It was a dream, after all.

"We should head out," Leomon said. "We are almost to the portal."

* * *

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 **Author's Note:** This chapter was a lot about Tai's development and more exposition. We'll see more of Sora and the others next time. I can't say anything else about next chapter without spoiling, you will just have to wait until I post on Sunday :s

Thanks for reading!


	20. Chapter 20

**..CHASING THE SUN..**

 **.**

 **Beneath a Different Sky - Part III**

 _ **DigiWorld - ?**_

At long last, they reached the narrow gorge in the evening, and Tai, Leomon and Agumon slowed to a halt.

"It is just through there," Leomon said, pointing at the gorge. "Once I unseal it, the rest is up to you, Tai."

Tai looked to where Leomon was pointing. He could see rocks and grass ahead, although he wished this journey didn't end so soon. Even though it saddened him, he was still going to do what he set out to in the first place.

"I'm ready," he said.

Leomon patted his shoulder.

"You always did have the courage in you," said Agumon. Tai turned to him, gulping as he started feeling a sting behind his eyes. Being with his partner for at least a few days longer than he ever imagined—it was more than he could ever ask for.

"Let's ride this out together, Agumon," he said.

"I'm with you until the very end."

Together, the three of them walked into the canyon, hearing only the sounds of the buzzing and chirping of the creatures of the night, along with their feet moving against the grass. It was that way until a tall rock covered in green vines came into view.

"This is it," said Leomon. "This is the portal."

Tai helped Leomon pull away the strings of green leaves, slowly revealing large doors, the handles at the center. A soft glow of light emanated from it, the more that the leaves were cleared. Tai remembered the rectangular bomb, and took it out of his bag and stuck it in his back pocket before anything else.

Then, stepping back, Tai watched Leomon press his hands against the doors, the glow becoming brighter as he held his stance.

* * *

 _ **August 3/4, 20XX (late night/early morning)**_

Throughout the night, Sora watched everyone drift off to sleep around her. Sora lay on top of the blanket, where Kari lay cozied up next to her, T.K. on her other side. Matt and Mimi dozed off against a rock, Joe snoozing between them, while Izzy fell asleep next to his laptop keyboard. The military people had gone away in their own camping tents.

Sora closed her eyes but couldn't fall asleep at all. Time and time again she would open her eyes to the door glowing faintly in front of them, not knowing what to expect. Was the door going to open with Tai walking out? Was it going to explode in front of them? It didn't help that Izzy had as good of a guess as anyone else did.

As she closed her eyes once more, she thought the door was slowly getting brighter—was it the trick of the light? She opened her eyes, seeing that the door was just at its usual faint glow.

 _I must be seeing things_ , she thought to herself, before closing her eyes again.

It was only a few moments later when she realized that there had been a beeping noise which was only getting louder.

"Holy smokes!" came a shout from Izzy. "Everyone, wake up!"

Opening her eyes again, she saw that the door was now shining brighter than before.

* * *

As soon as the door dimmed its glow, Leomon removed his palms and turned toward Tai.

"It's time, young Tai," Leomon said. "Go through this portal, and break the connection between the Digital World and the human world."

Tai stared up at Leomon's strong expression but kind eyes. It was a face he knew would be the last time he would be looking at after going through the portal. Turning to Agumon, who blinked at him attentively, only clutched at his heart even more.

"Leomon…" Tai started, looking back at him, feeling his hands tremble. "Will you be alright?"

Leomon laughed a hearty laugh. "I help defend this world. I will be alright. I will protect the monsters that need it. I'll even protect your partner over there."

Agumon snuffed at that. "I can look out for myself."

"Agumon…" said Tai, looking down. "I never wanted to say goodbye to you…"

"Oh, Tai…" Agumon moved toward Tai as he kneeled to the ground, breaking down into tears again. "That's because you don't have to. I've been with you from the beginning, until now, and long after the connection to our worlds breaks apart. We'll see each other again. We always will."

Tai wrapped his arms around his partner in an embrace as he nestled against him. Somehow, Agumon's optimism and conviction in his words made him believe it was true.

The ground rumbled just then, and explosions suddenly burst from the edge of the gorge. They saw flames ignite from the distance, and the area they had just entered from was now on fire, with dark smoke billowing into the sky.

"He's here," Leomon uttered with a low snarl.

The giant Digimon finally appeared before them, the four-legged monster shaking the ground with each step. Its body was covered in dark, magma, with fiery lava glowing through its cracks. It roared in front of them behind its spiked mask before charging straight toward them.

"We can't let him pass!" Leomon yelled as he ran one way, Tai and Agumon dispersing the opposite way. The Digimon got to Leomon first, shooting magma that hit him directly on his back, forcing him unconscious on the now burning ground.

The monster then shot out a torrents of yellow and gray quickly clouding every direction. Tai wasn't sure what it was at first, but instinctively started running away. There was no time to escape.

"It's sulfer!" Agumon yelled. "Don't breathe it in!" He quickly jumped over Tai to cover his face as they both fell. Somehow, Tai's rucksack had flown off of him, and during the fall, his eyes watched the bag falling slowly, and he suddenly remembered the rest of the conversation with Izzy:

"Do not _break this pen," he said rather sternly. "You can use it to let us know that you're alive, but only if anything were to happen to you, and you can't come back…"_

 _"I won't break it, Izzy," Tai replied. "Trust me on that."_

As the air turned yellow all around them, Tai felt it going into his nose and closing up his throat. He watched as the bag hit the ground, exploding from the leftover bombs, smoke screens, and shock traps, destroying the rucksack, his clothes, as well as the pen, which was now shattered on the ground.

"Shit," was all he said with his last breath, before everything turned from yellow darkened to black.

* * *

"What's happening?" Sora asked, immediately standing up and turning to Izzy, whose laptop continued to beep endlessly. The others had woken up and stood along with her.

"Something's happening with the portal from the other side!" Izzy said, his voice sounding panicked. He was tapping at the same key. "But this beeping tells me we've lost Tai's signal!"

Matt ran to his side to look at the laptop screen with him. "This is _not_ a good sign," he said seriously.

"What do you mean?" Kari asked anxiously, now at Matt and Izzy's side.

"It's beeping because that device must have broken…" Izzy said, his hands now off the keyboard, the expression of disbelief now becoming more prominent. "I know I warned him not to break things, but I trust he took really good care of them…"

Kari grabbed Izzy by the shoulders, now with desperation. "Izzy— _What do you mean?!_ What's going on with my brother?"

"Tai's in trouble, Kari," said Matt, now holding her shoulder to stop her. "But we don't know more than that."

"I told him not to break it unless he needed to…" Izzy said, now sitting back hopelessly in his chair.

"That means," said Joe. "If he needed to break it…then he's…"

"We don't know that!" Sora yelled shakily from the spot she had been standing. Tears lined her lower lids as she heard the others talk, but she refused to let them fall. Mimi and T.K. were standing alongside her, looking just as worried but said nothing. "All we know is that it's broken, right? We have no way of seeing what's happening to him and Agumon. He might be in trouble, but we just have to trust that everything will be alright. We just have to _believe_ in him."

Everyone stood silently, exchanging glances at each other, and then to Sora.

"I believe in him," T.K. said.

"So do I!" said Joe.

"Me too!" added Mimi.

"And me," said Matt.

"Absolutely," said Izzy.

"I believe in him too," Kari added lastly.

Feeling moved by her friends, Sora remembered she had put her Digivice in her pocket and took it out. Grasping it tightly, she held it against her chest, lowering her head to speak, as though he could hear her whisper:

"We believe in you, Tai."

As if on cue, rays of light began to emanate from her hand. A new sound entered her ears—the whistling that came from her Digivice.

"Prodigious…" she heard Izzy say, and saw that the others had all taken their own Digivices that were shining just as brightly.

* * *

When Tai came to, he gasped for air, coughing and wheezing from the attack. Taking note of where the monster stood, he must have not been knocked out for very long. Tai could feel the heat of the burning bushes and grass surrounding him. Leomon lay unconscious on the ground, and so did Agumon next to him.

"Agumon," he said through his raspy voice, grabbing hold of his partners shoulders. "Agumon, wake up…"

Agumon didn't move a muscle. The more Tai shook him, the more he began to wonder—What if… what if he never woke up?

Tai was the only one awake, and the Digimon was now slowly coming for him. He was alone, and it would all be over for him soon.

"Agumon, please…" Tai felt his heart pounding in his chest, the feeling of hopelessness starting to creep up on him. Once again, he was going to fail the others…

The others…

 _"Can you feel that, Tai?"_

He got on his knees, panting, holding one hand on the ground, the other held to his heart beating fast. He pictured his friends before him: Matt, Izzy, Joe, Mimi, T.K., Kari, Sora… He was nervous, he was afraid, but knew he wasn't alone, and it gave him more than enough strength to move forward.

"I know you can hear me, Agumon," he said quietly, slowly gaining his breath back, though the Digimon still inching closer with each footstep rumbling on the ground. "This can't be over yet. Our worlds are still in danger. We have to fight and protect everyone. They're all with us now, I'm sure you feel it too. Remember what you said before – that you will ride with me until the end. _Don't tell me this is the end, Agumon!_ "

Agumon's eyelids slowly opened, with his bright-eyed stare matching Tai's determination. Agumon then chuckled, standing on his own as though he never faltered. At the same time, the Digivice glowed from Tai's pocket once again.

"You really have grown, Tai," Agumon said, and Tai took hold of his Digivice, clutching it in his hand as he watched Agumon's bright glow of digivolution once more.

* * *

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 **Author's Note:** Echoing notes from Ao3- in my video game frenzy while writing this, I was heavily inspired by Persona 5 awakenings.

The Digimon that shows up is Volcdramon.

Thanks for reading!


	21. Chapter 21

**..CHASING THE SUN..**

 **.**

 **Beneath a Different Sky - Part IV**

 _ **DigiWorld - ?**_

Tai looked up at his Digimon in amazement, his shining silhouette growing even bigger than the last time, brighter than the flames around them.

"Glad you could join me, Metalgreymon," Tai said assuredly as the gigantic monster completed his evolution into a larger version of his ultimate form, now donning a metallic helmet and arm, with wings sprouted at his back. Then Tai turned to the volcanic Digimon, who roared thunderously, stomping its forelegs in anger at the sight of the strengthened Digimon in front of him. Waves of heat emanated from the magma on his body, creating a rush of hot wind going straight at Tai.

Tai curled the side of his lips into a smirk, staring dead straight into the eyes of the Digimon foe in front of him, just before Metalgreymon launched himself towards it and knocked him back into the ground. Running off to the side, Tai went directly to Leomon, who remained still, though he couldn't tell whether he was still alive.

"Get out of the way!" Metalgreymon howled, causing Tai to dodge another fall from the Digimon, who ignited flames wherever he hit the ground. Tai ran further back to get away from the heat of the flames, wiping the sweat from his forehead from the back of his arm, though tried to stay close to his Digimon's battle.

The fight went on, as Metalgreymon jumped side to side as he dodged the monster's sprays of magma attacks. He swiped his metallic claw across the monster's chest and the monster roared, feeling bits of rock being clawed away from its body.

"Yes!" shouted Tai, watching the foe being thrown further away from the portal door, which was still glowing, waiting for him to go through it. "Just a little more, Metalgreymon!"

There came a loud cry then. The fight took a turn as flaming red magma shot onto Metalgreymon, hitting him square in the chest. He stumbled backward, trying to stand his ground, but he stumbled again as more magma sprayed onto his helmet.

Tai ran past the flaming grounds as magma now covered his partner's whole body, dripping as he writhed in pain. The foe Digimon struggled to get on his rock hard hooves, stumbling on all fours and turned around to head straight for the portal door.

"No!" Tai was stopped by a large tree branch falling in front of him, embers smoking at its edges. He fell back onto his bottom, speechlessly watching his Digimon partner falling over while being drowned in the pool of molten lava.

It brought Tai back to that day. Echoes of his friends shouting, screaming, crying around him as they watched their Digimon die, one after another. The memory paralyzed him in his place, seeing the image as clear as day of his Digimon stop moving after the sword struck him through his back-

Tai gasped, snapping out of his memory. His Digimon partner _survived_ that attack. He's been alive all this time, still going strong. And now, as Tai stood back up, he saw Metalgreymon was still alive, rising up unphased as the lava dripped down from his body, wisps of smoke emanating.

His Digimon had never given up, and he would be an idiot to give up now, too.

"GO GET HIM— _METALGREYMON!_ " Tai shouted out as much as his breath could take, just as the hatch of Metalgreymon's chest opened, launching the missile aimed directly at the foe's armored head.

The missile blasted against the foe's head, and it let out a shriek as though it was in more pain, letting its legs give way. Before it had a chance to fall, Tai saw Metalgreymon's arm ignite in flames of its own, before throwing his final scorching slash against the foe, its bloodcurling screech resounding throughout the valley as it fell, until it quieted and lay still.

Metalgreymon stood over the fallen Digimon, who was now fading from existence, appearing to disintegrate with each pixel breaking apart. Tai darted over immediately, running around flames and hopping over some to get to his partner.

"We did it— _You_ did it, Metalgreymon!" Tai exclaimed, smiling. "I knew you could do it!"

"I'm sorry, Tai," came a low, unexpectedly weak grumble from the him. "It looks like my job here is done."

There was a new sound of rumbling, though it came from overhead. Tai looked up, seeing the clouds darkening the sky. It only took a few moments for rain to begin falling, dampening the burning land around them, and reducing flames to smoke.

"Well, of course it is," said Tai. "I'm so proud of you, after everything that's happened. You've been so strong."

"And that's why this truly is where it ends." The smile was wiped off of Tai's face.

"I don't understand."

Metalgreymon dropped to his knees, and Tai watched with unease as he de-volved to Greymon, then back to Agumon, before dropping with a thud on the ground.

"Agumon?!" Tai ran and kneeled next to him, picking the back of his head up with his hand, as lightning flashed in the sky, followed by loud roaring of thunder. Agumon was weak again, rapidly losing color, just as he looked in the real world. "Agumon! Talk to me!"

"It's okay, Tai."

Before he could pinpoint the voice he recognized, the pitter patter of the rain was suddenly louder and Tai looked to see an umbrella being held over him. When he turned to see who was holding it, he was instantly startled. Looking up at him was a cat-like Digimon, standing on two paws, smiling at his surprised expression.

Tai blinked as a sea lion Digimon plopped next to her, then being joined by an orange and white Digimon happily flapping its wings above them.

"Gatomon, Gomamon, Patamon…" Tai said, at a loss for words as Palmon, Tentomon, Gabumon, and Biyomon appeared together soon after. "I thought you all…"

"Mmhmm!" piped Patamon.

"Oh, the rain's letting up," said Gatomon, and she put the umbrella away.

"We didn't want to leave Agumon behind, so we've been waiting for him," Palmon squeaked.

"Waiting for him…?" Tai looked back at Agumon, whose eyes were opened once again, though Tai only noticed now that the bandage wrapped around his torso was now gone, but the large wound from the sword still appeared fresh. His heart sank, and possibly broke into pieces. "Oh, Agumon, I should have known…"

"It really is okay, Tai…" he said, his voice weakened. "It gave me a chance to see you again…"

"Stop talking like that." Tai was leaking tears now. "If I only realized you were this way…"

"There wouldn't have been time for that, and you know it. We knew what our fight was for. And we did it, Tai. And now I can leave here happy, knowing I was with you until the very end."

"You said we would see each other again, Agumon!" Tai cried. "You said…"

"I still believe that."

"Agumon…"

He then felt Gatomon's paw over his hand. "Don't blame yourself over all of this."

"You really are the best, Tai!" Tentomon said. "After Izzy, of course."

"We'll take great care of him, Tai," Gabumon said, reassuringly.

"The place we ended up, he's going to love it—there's a ton of food!" added Gomamon.

Tai laughed, still blinking tears away. "I'm sure he will."

Not too far from them came a grunt, and Leomon appeared before them all to Tai's surprise.

"You're alive," Tai said, relieved.

"Yes, but the time has come. You cannot stay here for long."

Tai looked to Agumon, feeling the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He knew it was time to go. After one last gentle embrace, he put Agumon in the care of the others, and stood up to face toward the door a few feet away.

"Tai?" came Biyomon's small voice. "You're going back to the human world now, right?"

Tai nodded.

"Watch over her," she said with a smile, and Tai smiled back.

"I will, Biyomon."

The sun was now breaking from the clouds. Tai walked with Leomon toward the door, the other Digimon following behind, calling out messages to send to their own partners.

"I love Kari!"

"Izzy, always the mastermind!"

"Joe! Tell him to keep working hard!"

"Tell Mimi I miss her!"

"Tell T.K. I think about him!"

"And Matt – tell him I miss him too!"

He smiled at listening to their chatter, taking every moment of it to heart. When they reached the door, Leomon stood in front, ready to open it for him.

"Tai," Agumon called, and Tai turned around, not knowing how much more he'll be crying.

"Yes, Agumon?"

"I'm proud of you too."

Tai smiled through his tears, feeling happiness and heartbreak at the same time. As the other seven Digimon smiled and waved back at him, he put his hand to his heart, wishing his friends could see them all now.

The doors were pulled open by Leomon, and Tai turned to face the doorway, now seeing the same white space and color streaks going this way and that.

"Now go, young Tai," said Leomon. "Go and save us all."

* * *

 _ **August 4, 20XX (early morning)**_

The seven Digidestined stood in their places for a few minutes until the Digivices stopped glowing. Sora stared at hers in wonder, though didn't have time to think about what was going to happen next.

"Stand back, guys!" Izzy said, and they all turned to the door which was now shining brighter than before. "The portal—it's opening!"

"Tai," she uttered, quickly hopping up and dashing toward the door.

"Sora! Wait!" Izzy exclaimed. "The portal is unstable—it's not safe! Stop!"

"Sora!" she heard Matt call from behind. The doors swung open hard, wind blasting furiously against them that Sora held her arms around to shield herself. She fell back even then, only to be caught by Matt and Joe behind her.

The wind stopped as quickly as it blasted, and Sora stumbled back onto her feet to see odd colors streaking along the whiteness of the portal beyond the door, almost like shooting stars. Further in, she saw him—Tai standing upright, facing the other way, but not moving. Was he thinking? Was he hesitating? Was he trying to run away again?

She had to get to him.

" _MOVE!_ " came an urgent shout. Sora felt bodies rush past her and saw a few military men stand and position in a formation around the door, the sound of clicking among them as they readied their weapons.

"Stand back, Ms. Takenouchi," said the military woman, who had her hair down but was still wearing her formal suit. "We have to take necessary precautions, in case any monsters follow him out." Kari screamed at this, only to be held back by T.K. as she lunged toward the woman.

"What are you doing?!" Mimi shrieked. "You're putting Tai in danger!"

"You need to stand down," Sora said, standing up to the woman. "If he's coming back, it means there's no more threat to our world. I trust that he saw to that."

There was a pause, and then, with a wave of the woman's hand, the soldiers lowered their guns.

"I have to go in," Sora said then, and the others gasped as walked toward the door.

"Don't do it, Sora!" Izzy called. "You don't know what will happen!"

"Tai!" Kari cried out, already in tears. T.K. was holding her back as she tried running to him herself.

"Get ahold of yourself, Sora!" Matt grabbed her arm to pull her back, and Mimi held her other, her eyes teary.

"Didn't you hear Izzy?! Are you out of your mind?!" asked Joe.

"You don't know what's going to happen if you go in," Mimi said apprehensively.

"I have to do this, guys," she said, holding Matt and Mimi's hands tightly. "I don't care how stupid I'm being." Matt sighed.

"I know… It's just how much you care about him," he said.

"No, Matt," she replied, and she shook her head, knowing now that what she felt in her heart was so much more. "It's how much I love him."

Sora turned to the door, and Matt stopped her again, though he now looked at her with understanding.

"We'll be right behind you," he said. Sora nodded gratefully, then turned and broke off into a run toward the door, ignoring Izzy's pleas to stop.

Tai was still in the floating in the same spot, back-facing, still floating—what in the world was he doing?

"Oh, for pity's sake!" said Izzy, who gave up shouting and left his laptop to join Sora and everyone else at the door.

Sora knew she had to get to Tai, and she had to bring him back to this world. Looking to Matt and the others to meet their eyes, everyone nodded, knowing exactly what they needed to do. And then, Sora turned to face the portal, and jumped through the door.

* * *

As soon as Leomon shut the door from the Digital World, it disappeared in front of Tai, leaving nothing to look at except the portal space. Gone was the world he saw was starting a brand new day, and the bright faces of the beloved Digimon. It was just Tai now, floating in this blank, digitalized space, alone.

 _What am I waiting for?_ He asked himself. Looking down, the twist and turns of the black wires were still there, which he now knew was the connection between the two worlds. He had just lost a dear friend, and left a place he always yearned to go back to so much – At that moment, he only wished the space around him was as black as the wires below him.

He remembered the rectangular contraption sitting in his back pocket and held it out in front of him. It really did look like computer memory to him. How silly for him to think that the memories he shared with his Digimon could no longer be shared again once he threw this thing down.

 _What if I fell down with it?_

He looked at the bomb and then the wires below. He couldn't imagine life without seeing Agumon again. Without going back to the DigiWorld. What was saving the world if his friends still had to lose their lives? What more was there to live for?

"What are you waiting for?" Sora's voice echoed from behind him. Was this another dream? He turned around, seeing her slowly float towards him with her hand reaching out to him.

Suddenly, the answers came to him. As her eyes begged and her hand grabbed onto his, he knew that this wasn't a dream at all—this was real. Real enough to no longer want darkness, but the brightness of that space to stay. His Digimon friends sacrificed their lives for him and his human friends to live on. And, seeing his friends link arms with Sora to help her float to him, Tai realized the answer to that other question was in fact right in front of him.

"It's now or never," Tai told her, ready to throw the bomb down. "Hold onto me."

Sora nodded, and as he thrust the bomb toward the wires, he wrapped himself around her tightly, his hands at her waist and holding her head, and she took hold of his waist. There was no sound, but a flash followed by a blast, forcing them to fly back toward the door to their world, destroying the last connection to the Digital World for good.

* * *

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 **Author's Note:** Oh, it's not Wednesday? I lose track of my days... ;)

A whole mess of things happened in this chapter, didn't it? I cried writing it. I teared up re-reading it.

But hey, thanks for reading! All your reviews, follows, and favs make my day. xx

The final part of the story is coming up... Stay tuned.


	22. Chapter 22: DAWN OF A NEW DAY

**..CHASING THE SUN..**

 **.**

* * *

 **..DAWN OF A NEW DAY..  
(22-23)**

 _With her, he is luminous_

The kids are finally all together as they say their goodbyes, but they can't end without a little celebration.

* * *

 **Dawn of a New Day - Part I**

 _ **August 4, 20XX (morning)**_

 _Crash._

Everything was at a standstill. Sora's eyes had been closed throughout the blast, and her arms were still around Tai. She felt him hold her as though he was protecting her with his whole being from the blast, his breath slowing to calm but his heart still racing.

When she opened her eyes, she realized that her she and her friends had all blasted out of the portal with them, and had fallen back into the ground right behind her.

She gently tapped Tai's shoulder, and together they sat up. Looking to the door that stood there all night, she noticed it had vanished.

"Guys…" Sora looked around quickly to survey the others, feeling more relieved as each of them opened their eyes, stirring and showing signs of life. "Thank goodness…" she uttered, looking back at Tai, who was now looking at her with tears already running down his cheeks, and his face, arms, and legs covered in dirt. His skin had some cuts and burns, and his clothes felt damp, but the sheer fact that he was alive and in front of her now moved her to tears.

"You did it, Tai," said Izzy in amazement, who reached to grab his laptop from where he had gotten up, and observed the screen. "The portal is gone, the map disappeared…"

"What about the code?" Matt asked.

"Not a trace. It appears as though it's been wiped from my laptop's memory."

Tai made a sound, perhaps from that last word, and Sora noticed his hands against the ground, and his fingers clawing into the dirt.

"The link, the connection to the DigiWorld is gone," he quivered under his breath. Agumon is… Agumon is…"

His whole body was trembling, and Sora could see him looking down with his eyes squeezed shut, his face flooded with tears. She stared heartbroken as they dripped from the bottom of his chin.

"He did his absolute best… and so did all of our Digimon… they fought their hardest… and I…"

Letting the tears fall down her own cheeks, Sora leaned forward to pull him into her embrace.

"You fought just as hard, I know you did," she said with her soothing tone.

His arms were clutching her waist now, and his forehead was on her shoulder, his tears showing no sign of stopping. Sora held him close, having one arm around his back, and the other hand holding the back of his head, closing her eyes as she paid no mind to more of her own tears trailing down her cheeks.

"It just isn't fair," he said through his sobbing. "They didn't have to…"

"No, it isn't," was all she could reply.

When Sora looked around at her friends, it was no surprise to see that there weren't any dry eyes in sight. Kari and T.K. were leaning against Joe, all three of them wiping their eyes. Mimi's face was buried in Matt's shirt, as Matt looked down at the ground. Izzy had closed his laptop and sat next to it, his head lowered as he hugged his knees. Even the military woman, standing to the side away from them, was dabbing her eyes with tissues.

It was gut-wrenching, hearing Tai's cries while Sora cradled him with his weight against her; however, she only felt as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She knew that, somehow, he decided to let go of the storm of his emotions that he had been holding back for so long. With patience, she listened to Tai's gasps and cries and ran her hand through his hair in comfort. She thought back to all those times he held her as she cried; except now, she was the one holding him.

When his heavy cries simmered down to sounds of sniffling, and Sora felt his breathing slow down against her, she noticed the sky had already started to brighten from its dark indigo into a shade of periwinkle. The glint of the sun was already showing in the distance. Somehow, it gave Sora the feeling that the storm in his heart was finally waning.

* * *

Joe helped the military doctor give a medical check for himself and his friends. He made sure he looked Tai over from top to bottom, before leaving him alone to fall asleep on a cot provided by the military.

"How's he doing?" Sora asked once Joe got out of the medical tent.

"A few cuts and bruises here and there, and he's got a few burns, but nothing too serious," Joe replied. "He's just extremely dehydrated, and he just needs a lot of rest."

"T.K.!" came a strict shout from Matt. T.K. ran past Sora and Joe, running straight into the tent where Tai was meant to be resting. "T.K., I just told you—"

Kari ran in soon after. After Sora exchanged glances with Joe, they both followed suit. When they entered, Sora saw that Tai was sitting at the side of his bed and Kari leaned on him with her arms around him. T.K. sat on the floor next to the bed, looking up at Tai, who was comfortably chatting with the two of them as he drank from his water bottle.

"Guys, Tai needs his rest," said Joe, but Tai smiled at him.

"It's alright, Joe. I'll be fine," he said.

Behind them, Matt, Mimi, and Izzy entered the tent. "That kid never listens," Matt said exasperatedly.

It was here that Tai told them about his journey with Agumon, and Leomon's tale that explained how the attacks came about. Everyone else sat on the floor as they listened to the monsters they encountered, and Agumon's evolutions, and his fight to the end.

Sora drew in a slow breath while the others gasped when Tai mentioned what happened at the end.

"I can't explain why or how it happened," he said, tearing up again, but this time, he was smiling. But, as he named each Digimon and their messages to their partners, everyone had found themselves reduced to tears once more.

"Those silly little Digimon…" said Joe, taking off his glasses to wipe his tears with his shirt. "That Gomamon…"

"Patamon…he's known all along," T.K. said, crying his eyes out. Tai patted his head.

Kari giggled next to Tai as she wept. "I'm so happy Gatomon is okay," she said.

"That's my Tentomon," Izzy said, smiling too.

"Of course Biyomon would say something like that," Sora said, sharing a tearful smile with Tai when they met eyes.

When Sora turned to look to Matt, she noticed he and Mimi were no longer standing next to her, though there was quiet sobbing coming from outside the tent. She went out to see Mimi and Matt sitting to the side. Mimi's arm was around Matt's shoulder as he wept freely in front of her. It was rare to see Matt cry—seeing him cry now made it much more painful.

Sora felt a touch at her shoulder, and saw T.K. pop up next to her. He took hold of her forearm as he observed his brother in sadness. It was at that moment she was reminded of T.K.'s request from a while ago.

"This place is perfect, you know," she told him, looking around. "And better yet, we're all here."

She knew T.K. quickly caught on, because he was now tugging at her arm, his watery eyes now lighting up.

* * *

There was no protest from anyone this time when T.K. brought up his idea for the memorial. Mimi immediately went back to the house to talk to her wait staff. In the meantime, everyone else dispersed throughout the forest to find big stones to use. Sora found two, and saw that Matt was nearby, looking through the grass and having no luck. She approached him, putting the stones on the ground when she reached him. His eyes were puffy from crying earlier, and she understood that he kept quiet because he didn't want to talk about it.

It didn't stop her from giving him a hug. She held him tightly and immediately felt his arms tighten around her, making her feel like it was exactly what he needed. Then she rubbed his back and they let go. He picked up both of the stones, handing one to her, and together they quietly walked back to the others.

When they returned, everyone else had found their own stone, and the military woman showed herself again, asking for them to give her the eight stones they had collected. Although they were reluctant at first, Sora decided it would be okay.

The woman left as two of her men carried the stones in their arms and disappeared into their tent. When the three of them came back, the men piled the stones together in front of them.

"Wow…" said Sora in amazement.

They surrounded the stones, seeing that each were now engraved with each Digimon partner's name, each with their crest symbol above them. Sora looked at the military woman with interest. She and her friends withheld a lot from the woman before everything happened, yet now she was wondering just how much the military found out about them…

"It was the least we could do," said the woman. "The world is indebted to you and your Digimon."

Tai helped T.K. line the stones up and spaced them a few feet apart in the shape of a huge arc on the ground, just behind where the portal had been. Everyone else helped place smaller stones around each engraved stone. Then Mimi came back with Joe, who was pulling a wagon holding bouquets of white and yellow roses, along with eight candles as well as some food.

The eight of them stood front and center of their makeshift shrine. The military woman, the doctor, and the soldiers with them all stood behind, observing to pay their respects. One by one, the Digidestined walked up to their Digimon partner's stone to place flowers and light a candle. No one spoke during this time—they all just stood together silently, so silent that the waves crashing along the beach were heard in the distance.

Sora was the second to last to go forward. As she placed her flowers in front of Biyomon's stone, she observed the intricate heart symbol of her crest, and thought of Biyomon's smile that always brightened her day, and her laugh. She fought for her and suffered those wounds and all that pain until her last breath, but Sora could still imagine her smiling her cheerful smile, happy with the other Digimon, wherever they were.

She still missed Biyomon so much.

"Hey, Sora." Sora looked over her shoulder and saw Tai kneeled down next to her, in front of his stone-the crest symbol shaped like the sun. It was then she noticed she had been crying all over again.

Sora pressed her fingers to her lips to press onto the stone in front of her. After she got up, she walked with Tai, who put his arm around her shoulder as they walked back to the others.

Soon after, picnic blankets were laid out, and once food was put in front of each of the stones, Mimi served lunch to her friends and the military personnel. The friends sat quietly again as they ate their sandwiches in silence. No one talked until Sora heard a noise, and looked to Izzy sitting next to her. He appeared to be looking around at everyone.

"What is it, Izzy?" she asked quietly.

"It really is nice that all of us are here like this," he replied. Then came a look of surprise as Tai, who must have heard him, patted his back.

Other than that, nothing else was said, yet Sora felt the silent atmosphere among her friends was different than the tense one a few days before. She felt this when she spent time with them in the days after the attacks, but with Tai along with them now, it felt especially more comforting.

It was after lunch that the military personnel packed up and went their separate ways.

"I apologize for the intrusion," the military woman told them. "You won't be hearing from us any further." Tai stepped forward to speak.

"Thank you for bringing Agumon back to us," he said.

"And thank you, Taichi, for fulfilling our request. You and your friends… the Chosen Children, the Digidestined…This world is so lucky to have you."

When the eight returned to the beach house, they all decided to go back to their own rooms, even though it was still late afternoon. A few days at the beach house had been more eventful than any of them would have ever imagined, and Sora felt, and figured for the others, that sleeping in a big, comfy bed was a good start to resting from it all.

As soon as Sora went into her room, she tried to empty her mind from everything that happened. Being outside throughout the night made her feel unclean, so she drew a bath to lay in for a while. Then, she put on some pajamas to wear and blow-dried her hair to prepare herself for falling into bed.

She heard a click from her bedroom door while she was still combing her hair. Peering from the bathroom she saw that Kari and T.K. had walked in, both carrying their own pillow and a blanket.

"Sora, if you don't mind…" Kari said. "Can we sleep here?"

"Of course," said Sora. "Make yourself at home."

They settled on the floor on the right side of her bed when a knock came on her door. Sora opened to find Izzy with his own pillow.

"Pardon me, Sora," he said.

"Come right in, Izzy." He headed toward one the spot at one end of the couch where T.K. and Kari lay next to.

Mimi was next to show up, giving her a hug, followed by Joe, who carried a pillow and a book. Joe took the opposite end of the couch and Mimi sat against a wall on the left side of the bed.

Sora had a feeling this was going to happen. Even as everyone walked to their own rooms, she knew that none of them wanted to be alone. It was no surprise to see Matt show up soon after, picking his spot in the room next to Mimi. Sora looked outside of her door after that, checking the staircase that led to the second floor, and the walkways around there.

She also had a feeling that Tai wasn't going to show up. Perhaps he wanted to be alone, just as he always made himself out to be from the beginning. She yawned as she closed her door, and turned to see the rest of her friends had already fallen asleep. And as she crawled into that big, comfy bed, her mind clear, she rested on her side and fell into her own slumber.

Until she felt something move at her back, causing her closing eyelids to open. She should have been surprised but she wasn't; instead, it was a warm, fuzzy feeling, as he crawled onto the bed and wrapped his arms around her chest from behind her. She turned to look at Tai. He had freshened up himself, his face clean other than those fresh cuts and bruises, and her mark on his cheek was still visible.

What surprised her the most was seeing him already fast asleep, unlike other times when she'd wait until she was sure he had. Turning her head back to her side, feeling tired yet content, she closed her eyes and finally let herself join Tai and her friends to rest without any more worries.

* * *

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 **Author's Note:** I wrote this in loving memory of loved ones who have passed on, so the last two chapters were written with a heavy heart. But it was cathartic for me at the same time.

And yes, it's the penultimate chapter. *sniffle* I hate goodbyes, if you haven't gathered that yet. I'll post the last one on Sunday. Thank you for reading!


	23. Chapter 23

**..CHASING THE SUN..**

 **.**

 **Dawn of a New Day - Part II  
** **FINAL**

 _ **August 5, 20XX**_

"Sora. Hey, Sora."

Sora was being shaken lightly, and she could hear Kari's whispers as she slowly woke up.

"Hmm?" She opened her eyes, seeing Kari meeting eye level with her at the edge of her bed. Her eyes were bright. "What time is it?"

"It's morning. I think we all slept through the rest of the day."

Sora sat up, realizing she was fully awake. The room was darkened from the closed curtains, only brightened by the sunlight seeping through the small opening. When she looked around, she saw that the others were still in their same spots, including Tai, whose arm was now on her lap.

"We should wake Mimi up," Kari said, still whispering but full of energy. "I have an idea for today, and I think she's going to love it."

"What are you thinking of?" Sora asked.

"Well, I'm sure you brought your swimsuit, too."

Sora's smile widened as she realized what Kari had in mind.

"Let's go wake her up," she said, and threw off the blanket over her and hopped out of bed. Mimi and Matt fallen asleep against the wall, with his arm around her as she lay against his chest.

"What's going on?" Mimi asked groggily, with Matt stirring and squinting his eyes, though they remained closed.

"Please don't tell me you left your swimsuit at home, Mimi," said Sora in a low voice so as not to bother the boys who were still asleep.

"I would never. Especially when I'm coming here to the beach house."

"I'm sure the boys brought their own things," said Kari. "And we haven't even gone to the beach yet since we've all been here."

Mimi gasped and sat up, now looking at Sora and Kari wide awake.

"Do you mean…?!" Mimi squealed.

"Yes, Mimi," said Sora with a smile. "While we're still here, we should have a—"

" _BEACH PARTYYYYYY!"_

Kari gasped at Mimi's sudden yell and covered her mouth. Sora turned around as she heard groans scattered around the room.

"Geez, Mimi," said Matt grumpily next to her.

"Eep! I'm sorry…" Mimi lowered her voice in embarrassment, but as she looked to Kari and Sora, the three of them giggled together quietly. "We should get everything started, anyway. I'll go to the kitchen to get breakfast going. I'm so excited!"

Mimi hurried out of the room, and Sora saw the others getting up.

"I feel so much better after that sleep," said Izzy, standing up from his side of the couch. "I can't believe we slept for that long."

"We definitely needed it," said Sora, seeing that Tai was now sitting up.

"Something about a beach party?" he asked, yawning with his eyes half open. Sora climbed back into bed to sit next to him, reading his face.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, wondering about how long he had been in the Digital World, and how tired he must have been. "Are you going to sit this one out?"

"Don't be silly, Sora," he said, blinking at her sleepily. "I'll be there." She opened her mouth in surprise, her face close to his.

"Really, Tai?" Tai moved closer to her.

"Really."

Kari squeaked, and Sora saw that she and T.K. were sitting near them, looking on at both of them in adoration.

"Let's… all go freshen up for breakfast…" said Joe. Izzy showed his agreement by heading toward the door. Joe held T.K. by his sleeve to lead him out, and T.K. took Kari's wrist.

Sora followed them and stood at the door, amused at her friends.

"Hey," said Tai, nudging her side. She whirled around to face him, suddenly being held by him at the waist. She was pleasantly surprised as she looked into his eyes, looking more awake and the tired lines were close to disappearing.

"Hey," she said back, putting her hands on his forearms, seeing that he was deep in thought.

"I've been wanting to talk to you," he said, to which Sora raised her eyebrows. Looking around, she saw that her room was now empty except for the two of them, as well as Matt, who was still asleep. Then, she noticed the outside light between the closed curtains was still tempting her.

"Let's talk outside," she said. She grabbed his hand, leading him to the patio from her room. There was a cool, gentle breeze surrounding her the moment she stepped outside, and the sun crept up from behind the clouds as though it was barely waking up itself. Just a few yards in front of them was the beach and the sound of small waves crashing against each other. She couldn't think of anything more breathtaking than the view.

"I want to apologize to you," Tai said, standing next to her as they both looked to the beach. "For putting you through all that. For leaving you that morning…" Sora turned to him so that they now stood face to face. "You were right—I've been selfish, and I was an idiot for not talking to you about it. I should have trusted you more…"

Sora put her hand on his cheek in admiration. "No one expected any of this to happen. None of us knew how to move forward, to move on after losing our Digimon like that. We all have different ways of handling our emotions, even you." Then, she let go of his cheek, and looked to the side. "Not that it excuses you from what you did."

"You don't have to forgive me, Sora. Just know that I always mean what I tell you. I said I wasn't going to leave you."

"And you did."

"But I said I'd come back to you, didn't I?"

She met eyes with him again at that realization. After hearing herself pleading for him to come back to her, and then watching him say it to her face at the portal, to him looking back at her now.

They heard a sound of a knock, and looked to see that Matt was standing at the opened patio door and walked out to meet them. Sora nearly forgot he was still in her room.

"I guess everyone's getting ready for breakfast, huh?" Matt asked, scratching his head. "Say, when we get back to the city, I'm thinking of reserving a few more gigs with the band. Tai, you coming?"

"Only if Sora goes," he said.

"Of course he's going, Matt," Sora replied, hitting Tai's shoulder.

"Great!" said Matt with a big smile. "We've been working on more songs, so I think pretty soon you'll see another album released by none other than Knife of Day—" Matt paused as he noticed Sora making a disapproving face at the name. Then he looked to Tai. "You two…"

She and Tai looked at each other, realizing they were making the same face, then broke into laughter. Matt sighed.

"Unbelievable," he said, walking past them and back into the room. Sora looked back at Tai, seeing the joy in his laugh as she laughed along with him. It filled her heart with warmth.

"I'm glad you're back," she said, nuzzling up against him. His arms were around her again.

"I'm glad you're still here with me," he said.

"Why wouldn't I be, Tai?" she looked up at him, and he caressed her cheek, gently wiping her hair away from her face, like he did many times before. "I'll always be here with you, no matter how many times you make me call you ' _baka'_. I lo…"

Her voice escaped her suddenly, realizing what she was about to say. Why did she hold that back? She already said it before. She already admitted it to her friends. It was some small fear she had for the longest time, that keeping her feelings for him to herself was for the best, even after she confessed, and even after he confessed back.

She giggled at herself then as he looked at her, confused, but waiting for her to finish her sentence.

"I love you," she said, after battling the fear in her head, though her heart was now thumping in her chest, and she finally said it to his face in clear consciousness.

Tai laughed at this, to her horror.

"Good," he said through his chuckles.

"… _Good_?! What kind of response is _that_?!"

She really felt as though they were back in that day in high school, when she confessed. But this time, before she could think to slap him again or run away from him, he pressed his lips against hers.

"Say it again," he said softly, looking deep into her eyes, making her melt.

"I love you, Tai," she repeated with more conviction.

"Good, because I love you, too, Sora." She took a deep breath as their lips met again, and she fell into his arms, leaning into him as she kissed back. Her heart swelled as he pulled her even closer, feeling the fire between them every time their lips touched. She let out a giggle, feeling the tip of his tongue tickle hers.

"Ahem."

Their kiss was suddenly broken, and they turned to see that it was Joe, arms crossed, who had cleared his throat, and the rest of their friends were all now standing at the patio door.

"Unbelievable," Matt said again, but he was smiling and shaking his head. Sora blushed, staying close to Tai while he laughed nervously, hand at the back of his head.

Matt held a pack of tissues which Mimi snatched from his hand to blow her nose from crying. Kari dabbed her eyes with a smile on her face, while Izzy and T.K. looked on cheerfully.

"We should go—head to—breakfast," Mimi said, blubbering through her sobs. "Oh, Tai, you goon—Sora—we'll go on ahead—oh, I'm so happy!"

Kari held Mimi in comfort as they cried happily together, following the others to the dining room. Tai pulled Sora in again, giving her the tightest hug.

"I wanted you to hear yourself say it first, just so you could hear me say it back this time," he said, and she smiled, knowing his gesture was all for her.

"Baka," she said, and she pushed him off of her gently so that her lips could find their way to his once more.

* * *

They went out onto the beach by midday, when the sun was directly above them. The girls were in their bikinis, boys in their swimming trunks, and Mimi's chefs were off to the side, barbecuing meats and vegetables as they did for them earlier in the summer.

Blankets and umbrellas were laid out, and Joe rested there with his book, along with Mimi, who was sunbathing. Tai, Matt, and Izzy tossed around an inflated beach ball, while Sora joined T.K. and Kari in the game of suikawari _._ It turned out to be a shorter game than expected—T.K. had the first turn, and he had no issue smashing the watermelon with one strike.

Sora carried a few pieces with her and sat with Joe and Mimi to share with them. She felt the breeze and ocean spray, though looked the opposite direction, finally getting a chance to admire the architecture of the beach house.

"It really is a beautiful spot, Mimi," she said. "We should try to come here every year – all eight of us."

"I second that notion," Joe quipped. "Without opening portals and all that." Mimi giggled.

"I should hope so," she said. "Plus, we can visit our Digimon here."

"I'm sure the others wou—" Sora was cut off by the beach ball flying straight at her. She caught it in her hands just before it hit her face. Looking over, she saw both Tai and Izzy look back in horror. Sora narrowed her eyes and got up, ready to run.

"Run, Tai!" Izzy shouted as Tai ran away laughing, and Sora chasing after him. She followed him weaving around Matt, then past the barbecue grill, then straight to the shore line, where he stopped abruptly at the wet sand. Sora tackled him, and together they fell, Tai with his back against the sand and Sora on top of him. They both felt the cold rush of water against them as it rose and fell beside them.

"Would you look at that…I actually caught you," she said with a smile, staring into his as he watched her in awe.

Then a large splash of water fell upon them, and they turned to see T.K. laughing heartily as his aim to splash attack them was a direct hit. After giving each other knowing looks, they both got up to run after T.K., who Tai quickly caught and carried him over his shoulders. Sora ran with Tai as they moved deeper into the ocean, where they swam and continued to laugh and splash each other. Kari waded in after, followed by Matt and Mimi, and even Izzy and Joe went in on their own volition.

Mimi jumped to Sora with a splash, grinning at her as she hugged her from behind. Sora looked around at the rest of her friends, who were now surrounding Tai, bombarding him with splashes he couldn't escape from. He was happy, and so was everyone else. It was what she felt Biyomon, Agumon, and all the other Digimon would have wanted for them, after all. Sora smiled and let the splashes of water blend with her tears of joy, knowing the sun was shining brightly, and there was darkness no more.

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 **..OWARI..**

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 **Author's Note:** We've reached the end of this one =,) This all kinda sparked during the middle of the .tri movies - I felt like there wasn't enough Sora development for my liking (I stopped at Part 4, but I've been meaning to give the movies another shot, either way)

I hope I was able to convey the meaning of the title throughout the whole story. The main theme was Sora trying to get to Tai's reach, - the "sun" being Tai's symbol for the Crest of Courage. The title shares the same as a song by The Wanted which has a completely different meaning. But it's still catchy x(

Thank you for reading. Shout out to everyone who favorited, followed, and reviewed (I'm looking at you, _Vigatus_ & _MsCrayon_ xx). Catch me on the Digimon front page, or visit my profile for updates and such. :)

I'm so happy that you could ride with me until the very end. T_T xoxoxoxo


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